proverb · Words worth keeping
You can’t get blood out of a stone.
You can’t get blood out of a stone.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying denies that blood can be drawn from a stone. As an analogy, an expected resource may be unavailable from the place being asked to supply it.
What the words are saying
The impossible-looking extraction gives frustration a concrete form. A careful application distinguishes inability from refusal and checks actual circumstances. The supplied money-recovery example is illustrative, not evidence of an enforceable claim or guidance about pursuing payment.
Everyday example
A group checks what resources a participant can actually provide before repeating the same demand.
When to use it
Use it to discuss unavailable means with refusal and inability distinguished.
What it does not mean
No person’s resources, legal duty or absolute impossibility is established by the analogy.
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 449; PDF page 66
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.