All's fair in love and war
Meaning: Normal rules don't apply in romance or conflict.
Origin: John Lyly's romance Euphues (1579) says that the rules of fair play do not apply in love and war. The crisp modern wording appears in Frank Smedley's novel Frank Fairlegh (1850): "All's fair in love and war." It is usually said to excuse underhanded tactics.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: En amour comme à la guerre, tous les coups sont permis (literally: In love as in war, all moves are allowed)
- Spanish: En la guerra y el amor todo vale (literally: In war and love, everything goes)
- Japanese: 恋と戦は手段を選ばず (Koi to ikusa wa shudan wo erabazu) (literally: In love and war, any means is acceptable)
- German: In der Liebe und im Krieg ist alles erlaubt (literally: In love and in war everything is permitted)
More proverbs about Human Nature
- A friend in need is a friend indeed — True friends show their worth during difficult times.
- The squeaky wheel gets replaced — Constant complainers may be removed rather than accommodated.
- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder — Perception of beauty is subjective and personal.
- The bigger they are, the harder they fall — Powerful people suffer greater consequences when they fail.
- Beauty is only skin deep — Physical appearance is superficial; character matters more.
- East or west, home is best — No matter where you go, home remains the best place.
From our tongue twisters
- Czy rak trzyma w szczypcach strzęp szczawiu? — Four different Polish sibilant clusters — trz, szcz, strz, szcz — in a single short quest…
- Ząb, zupa zębowa; dąb, zupa dębowa. — Drills the nasal vowels ą and ę, which only differ from plain a and e by the nasal hum.
- Far, får får får? Nej, får får inte får, får får lamm. — får means both 'sheep' and 'gets' — seven identical-looking words carrying two different…