No striving against the stream.
Meaning: Futile effort exhausts you; accepting circumstances' natural flow preserves energy for what matters.
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.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Little strokes fell great oaks. — Persistent small efforts accumulate to accomplish what seems impossible through sheer rep…
- Light suppers make long lives. — Eating lightly in evenings prevents digestive strain that shortens lifespan through overw…
- Sweep before your own door. — Address your own faults and shortcomings before criticizing or interfering in others' aff…
- Put no faith in tale-bearers. — Gossips distort truth through retelling, making their reports unreliable guides for judgm…
- Temperance is the best physic. — Moderation in food, drink, and habits prevents disease better than medicine can cure it.
- Gather thistles, expect prickles. — Planting harmful seeds guarantees painful consequences; you reap what you sow literally a…
From our compliments & insults
- Casse-pieds — A massive bore or pain in the neck — someone who wears you down with their irritating way…
- Espèce de patate — You dim bulb — a potato being the very picture of inert, unthinking stodginess.
- Quel râleur / quelle râleuse — You never stop moaning — everything is a complaint, nothing is ever good enough.