proverb · Traditional
After the storm comes the calm.
The saying puts calm after a storm. As an analogy, it offers hope that a period of difficulty can give way to relief.
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What does it mean?
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216 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional
Agree, for law is costly.
A settlement may avoid the expense and strain of a prolonged dispute. The proverb favours agreement where it is fair and workable, without making cost a reason to abandon protection, accountability or a legitimate claim.
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All's fair in love and war.
The saying suspends ordinary fairness in love and war. It presents intense aims or conflict as an excuse for otherwise questionable means.
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Allow one donkey to bray at a time.
The instruction permits only one donkey to bray at a time. As a human analogy, it asks speakers to take turns rather than add overlapping noise.
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An argument is like a dagger, it has two sharp cutting sides.
An argument compared with a dagger cutting on two sides pictures a dispute affecting more than one participant. The saying warns that using an argument can have consequences for its user as well.
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An elephant in the room.
The phrase pictures an elephant in a room as a conspicuous concern that people avoid discussing. It contrasts an obvious presence with collective silence.
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An Englishman's house is his castle.
A home is pictured as a place of personal privacy and refuge. The castle image expresses a wish for control over one’s domestic space, rather than establishing a current legal entitlement or making that security exclusive to English men.
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An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
The saying pairs an eye with an eye and a tooth with a tooth. It presents a response to harm in terms of a matching loss.
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An ill marriage is a spring of ill fortune.
A harmful partnership can create repeated difficulties in daily life. The spring image makes one troubled relationship a source from which other problems flow.
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An indifferent agreement is better than a good verdict.
A workable compromise may be more useful than a satisfying declaration that one side has won. The saying draws attention to the costs of prolonged conflict, while preserving the need for a fair outcome.
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Anger is more destructive than the sword.
Anger described as more destructive than a sword gives an emotion’s consequences a dramatic scale. The saying warns about what anger can lead someone to do.
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Angry men seldom want woe.
People who act from anger may find that trouble follows. Want here concerns lacking trouble, so the saying warns that angry reactions can supply plenty of it without making the emotion itself a moral failure.
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Anything for a quiet life.
The phrase values avoiding conflict so strongly that it offers almost any concession for peace. A careful reading asks whether the concession creates a workable calm or leaves an important problem unaddressed.
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As the dog said: ‘If I fall down for you and you fall down with me; it is playing.’
A dog naming mutual falling as play gives shared participation a role in how an encounter is understood. The saying presents reciprocity as distinguishing the scene.
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Attack is the best form of defence.
The saying ranks attack as the best defence. It favours taking the initiative against a threat rather than only responding.
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Attack is the best means of defence.
The saying ranks attack as the best means of defence. It presents taking the initiative against an opponent as preferable to waiting.
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Avoiding conflict is also a victory.
Avoiding conflict called a victory gives restraint a successful outcome. The saying challenges the idea that winning requires defeating an opponent.
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Be gentle to your enemy, same as to an old oven.
An enemy treated gently like an old oven gives a potentially difficult relationship an image requiring care. The precise feature of the oven comparison is unstated.
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Bear and forbear.
Endure ordinary difficulties and show restraint toward other people’s faults. Patience and mutual tolerance can keep small frictions from becoming repeated quarrels.
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Better to bow than break.
Bowing preferred to breaking gives flexibility an image of preserving what matters. The saying questions rigid resistance through a physical contrast.
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Bread and water is better than cake and trouble.
Bread and water preferred to cake with trouble contrasts a simple option with an attractive but burdensome one. The saying values peace beyond luxury.
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By wisdom peace, by peace plenty.
The saying links sound judgement with peace, and peace with conditions for prosperity. It presents a hopeful connection, not a guarantee that careful decisions will end conflict or provide plenty for everyone.
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Care will kill a cat.
Persistent worry can wear down even someone imagined as resilient. The cat’s death exaggerates the burden of care and encourages attention to strain rather than admiration for endless endurance.
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Civil words cost nothing, and go a long way.
Polite words can make cooperation easier without requiring money or a large gesture. A respectful request or acknowledgement may help where a harsh manner would create resistance.
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