proverb · Words worth keeping
A wilful man never wants woe.
A wilful man never wants woe.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Stubbornly ignoring relevant limits can bring difficulty. The saying warns about wilfulness without treating every firm decision as unreasonable.
What the words are saying
The repeated will and woe suggest that insistence supplies its own troubles. It can prompt someone to reconsider a position maintained despite clear evidence or avoidable harm. Firmness can also protect a principle or a necessary boundary. A useful application asks whether the decision is responsive to reasons rather than labelling resistance as stubbornness simply because another person dislikes it.
Everyday example
A team changes an unworkable arrangement after hearing clear objections instead of insisting on it only because it was the first plan.
When to use it
Use it to examine insistence that is no longer supported by reasons.
What it does not mean
Determination and principled refusal are not automatically wilfulness.
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
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 1770 · Wilful man
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English