proverb · Words worth keeping
A broken friendship may be soldered but will never be sound.
A broken friendship may be soldered but will never be sound.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying solders a broken friendship but denies that it becomes sound. It presents repaired trust as permanently weakened.
What the words are saying
The material-repair image gives a pessimistic view of reconciliation. A responsible explanation can discuss difficulty after a breach without guaranteeing that recovery is impossible. People may rebuild, change the relationship or choose distance; no choice is settled by the metaphor.
Everyday example
Two people consider what rebuilding trust would require without assuming either full restoration or permanent failure.
When to use it
Use it to examine a pessimistic repair metaphor with outcomes open.
What it does not mean
No inevitable weakness or obligation to reconcile is established.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 683; PDF page 98
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.