proverb · Words worth keeping
Dread the anger of the dove.
Dread the anger of the dove.
In print by 1857 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
A usually gentle person can still reach a limit. Do not interpret calmness as endless tolerance or assume that anger can arise only in people who appear forceful.
What the words are saying
The dove’s familiar gentleness makes its anger surprising. The proverb warns against relying on that familiar image to excuse repeated pressure or disrespect. A person who rarely objects may eventually speak firmly when a boundary is crossed. It is better to attend to stated limits before frustration accumulates. This reading does not endorse fear of quiet people or predict an eruption. It simply leaves room for someone’s full range of feeling instead of reducing them to a reputation for patience.
Everyday example
A quiet volunteer repeatedly asks for advance notice of schedule changes. The organiser takes that request seriously instead of waiting for the volunteer to become angry.
When to use it
Use it when someone’s gentleness is being mistaken for unlimited tolerance.
What it does not mean
Quietness is not evidence of suppressed anger. Listen to actual communication rather than inventing a hidden threat.
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 (French-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1857 AD · industrial
In print by 1857: recorded in A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857) (1857 AD)
Printed page 14; French section, paragraph 278; source wording: Craignez la colère de la colombe.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.