Home › Proverbs

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: From 'A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases' (1870). Public domain.

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…

← Back to Proverbs

Loading the full interactive collection…