Make a virtue of necessity.
Meaning: When circumstances force action, find dignity and purpose in accepting what you cannot avoid.
Origin: Saint Jerome used the idea in the 4th century, and Chaucer's The Knight's Tale has Theseus advise "to maken virtue of necessity." Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona repeats it. It means accepting with good grace what you cannot avoid.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, and German
- French: Faire de nécessité vertu (literally: To make a virtue of necessity)
- Spanish: Hacer de la necesidad virtud (literally: To make virtue out of necessity)
- German: Aus der Not eine Tugend machen (literally: To make a virtue out of the need)
More proverbs about Morality
- Neighbour-quart is good quart. — Buying locally from neighbors costs less in travel and effort than sourcing goods from di…
- Pleasing ware is half sold. — Attractive presentation and packaging persuade customers more effectively than quality al…
- After rain comes fair weather. — Hardship is temporary; patience through difficulty leads naturally to better conditions.
- Good servants make good masters. — Those who understand subordinate roles develop empathy and humility when they gain author…
- Who sings drives away care. — Singing actively displaces worry by occupying the mind with melody rather than anxious th…
- Trust not a broken staff. — A weakened support system, once compromised, cannot reliably bear weight in future crises.
From our tongue twisters
- Król Karol kupił królowej Karolinie korale koloru koralowego. — Every word starts with k, and król/Karol/korale/koloru keep re-ordering the same handful…
- 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.