Rain does not fall on one roof alone
Meaning: Hardship and misfortune are universal; no single person suffers alone.
Origin: Listed in collections of Cameroonian and other African proverbs, but no early written source has been traced. It means that good or bad fortune touches the whole community, not just one household.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: La pluie ne tombe pas sur un seul toit (literally: Rain does not fall on just one roof)
- Spanish: La lluvia no cae sobre un solo techo (literally: The rain doesn't fall on just one roof)
- Japanese: 雨は一軒の屋根だけに降るのではない (Ame wa ikken no yane dake ni furu no de wa nai) (literally: Rain does not fall on only one roof)
- German: Jeder hat sein Kreuz zu tragen (literally: Everyone has his cross to bear)
More proverbs about Human Nature
- You can't see the forest for the trees — Being too focused on small details can prevent you from seeing the overall picture.
- The wolf changes his coat but not his character — Surface appearances can change, but a person's fundamental nature remains the same.
- Not all who wander are lost — Those who explore unconventional paths may have a deeper sense of direction than it appea…
- Every person is a mirror to another — We see our own nature reflected in how we treat others and how others respond to us.
- A man's home is his castle — A person's home is their private domain, which no one may enter or interfere with without…
- Behind every great man is a great woman — Significant male achievement typically depends on crucial female support, often unrecogni…
From our untranslatable words
- Verschlimmbessern — To make something worse in a well-intentioned attempt to improve it.
- Sturmfrei — The liberating feeling of having the house entirely to yourself — when parents or a partn…
- Nunchi — The subtle art of reading a room — sensing what people feel, what they need, and what is…