A crooked tree will have a crooked shadow.
Meaning: Flawed character inevitably produces flawed outcomes, just as a tree's deformity cannot cast a straight shadow.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Challenge
- Daylight will peep through a small hole. — Light finds its way through the tiniest opening, so truth and hope cannot be completely s…
- There are none so deaf as those who will not hear. — Willful ignorance is more impenetrable than physical deafness; people reject truth they r…
- Out of debt, out of danger. — Freedom from financial obligations eliminates the vulnerability that creditors and desper…
- He that hath shipped the devil must make the best of him. — Once committed to a dangerous course, you must proceed with full effort rather than aband…
- Make not the devil blacker than he is. — Don't exaggerate someone's faults or paint them worse than reality warrants.
- He needs must go that the devil drives. — Desperation compels action when circumstances leave no choice but obedience to dire neces…
From our compliments & insults
- Eres más corto que las mangas de un chaleco — You're not the sharpest — a bit slow on the uptake.
- Du bist nicht die hellste Kerze auf der Torte — You're a little dim — not the smartest in the room.
- Tu as une cervelle de moineau — You're scatterbrained and forgetful.