ProverbWisdom
German origin
German originAlles hat ein Ende
Meaning: Nothing lasts forever, good or bad.
Literally: Everything has an end
Example: “Der Urlaub war wunderbar, aber alles hat ein Ende.” — The vacation was wonderful, but all good things must come to an end.
Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, and Portuguese
English: All good things must come to an end
French: Toutes les bonnes choses ont une fin (literally: All good things have an end)
Spanish: Todo lo bueno llega a su fin (literally: All good things come to their end)
Japanese: 盛者必衰 (Jōsha hissui) (literally: The prosperous must decline)
Italian: Ogni bel gioco dura poco (literally: Every good game is short)
Portuguese: Não há bem que sempre dure nem mal que não acabe (literally: No good lasts forever, no bad never ends)
Origin: Germans often finish it with a joke: alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei, everything has an end, only the sausage has two. Stephan Remmler made that line a hit song in the 1980s.
Explore another collection: Idioms
Colorful expressions from dozens of languages, with their word-for-word translations.
- den Geist aufgeben to die, or to cease functioning.
- um ein Haar by the narrowest possible margin; almost not.
- etwas auf die lange Bank schieben to postpone or delay something indefinitely.
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