proverb · Words worth keeping
Clouds that the sun builds up darken him.
Clouds that the sun builds up darken him.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
What helps create an obstacle may later be obscured by it. The sun and its clouds give a vivid image of a cause losing visibility behind its own result.
Example
A group introduces so many procedures to support its work that those procedures begin to obscure the actual task.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The saying pictures clouds associated with the sun’s activity coming between the sun and the observer. As a metaphor, it can describe a project or institution generating complications that hide its original purpose. The useful question is whether something it produced is now getting in the way. This reading is not a lesson in meteorology or proof that every setback is self-created. Other causes and changing circumstances may also matter.
When to use it
Use it to examine a complication that grew from an undertaking’s own activity.
Keep in mind
Not every obstacle is self-created, and the image is not a scientific account of weather.
An interpretation of the words, not a claim about their 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
- Date unknown
- Culture
- English