He had need rise betimes that would please everybody.
Meaning: Rising early cannot satisfy conflicting demands; some desires are inherently incompatible.
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.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: Qui veut plaire à tout le monde, doit se lever de bonne heure (literally: He had need rise early who would please everybody)
- Spanish: Nunca llueve a gusto de todos (literally: It never rains to everyone's liking)
- Japanese: あちら立てればこちらが立たず (Achira tatereba kochira ga tatazu) (literally: If you make that side stand, this side won't stand)
- German: Allen Leuten recht getan, ist eine Kunst, die niemand kann (literally: To do right by everybody is an art that nobody can manage)
More proverbs about Perseverance
- You should never touch your eye but with your elbow. — Protecting your eyes requires maintaining impossible distance from contamination.
- Faint heart never won a fair lady. — Romantic success requires courage; passive timidity guarantees failure in matters of love.
- Keeping from falling is better than helping up. — Prevention of harm requires less effort and causes less suffering than recovery from it.
- A famine in England begins at the horse-manger. — Poor grain management for livestock presages broader scarcity throughout the land.
- Every one puts his fault on the times. — People habitually blame circumstances and bad luck rather than acknowledging their own re…
- Have but few friends, though many acquaintances. — Quality relationships require intentional investment; shallow connections can be numerous…
From our idioms
- en la estacada — abandoned or left in a difficult situation without help.
- ahogarse en poca agua — to panic or overreact to a minor problem.
- morder el polvo — to be defeated or to die.