Cloudy mornings turn to clear evenings.
Cloudy mornings turn to clear evenings.
Meaning in plain English
An unpromising beginning need not determine how the rest of an experience develops. The cloudy-morning image encourages leaving room for improvement, while it should not be treated as a weather forecast or a promise that every difficulty ends well.
Example
A first rehearsal is confused, but the group clarifies its cues and finds that the later run is easier to follow.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The saying moves from a cloudy morning to a clear evening, giving the day a different ending from its beginning. Figuratively, a difficult first stage can be followed by a more workable later one. A useful reading resists turning an initial impression into a settled prediction before more of the situation is known. Some difficulties continue, and improvement may need support, changes or time rather than mere waiting. The proverb offers a hopeful possibility, not certainty. Its weather image is also not dependable meteorological guidance. The point is to consider what can still change without denying the conditions that currently make an undertaking hard.
When to use it
Use it when an early setback is being taken as proof that the whole experience must fail.
Keep in mind
Improvement is possible rather than guaranteed; the image is not a weather forecast.
Edsverb editorial interpretation · agent reviewed · 2026-10-04. This explains the saying; it does not establish its historical origin.
- Source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 275 · Cloudy
Read the original context ↗ - Attribution confidence
- traditional · historical anthology
Preserved as printed; independently unverified. - Historical coordinate
- Undated
No reliable date supplied by the collection. - Rights & edition
- Public domain (United States)
Translations and rights may differ elsewhere.
Provenance and licences ↗