ProverbWisdomChinese origin

塞翁失马，焉知非福 (Sài wēng shī mǎ, yān zhī fēi fú)

Meaning: A misfortune may turn out to be a blessing; you can't judge events too soon.

Literally: The old man lost his horse, but who knows it wasn't luck?

Example: “他被公司裁员了，结果自己创业成功了。塞翁失马，焉知非福。” — He was laid off, and then his own business took off: every cloud has a silver lining.

Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, and 7 more languages

  • English: Every cloud has a silver lining
  • French: Après la pluie, le beau temps (literally: After rain, good weather)
  • Spanish: No hay mal que por bien no venga (literally: There is no evil that doesn't come for good)
  • Japanese: 雨降って地固まる (Ame futte ji katamaru) (literally: After rain, the ground hardens)
  • German: Kein Unglück ist so groß, es trägt ein Glück im Schoß (literally: No misfortune is so great that it doesn't carry some luck in its lap)
  • Italian: Non tutti i mali vengono per nuocere (literally: Not every misfortune comes to do harm)
  • Portuguese: Há males que vêm por bem (literally: Some misfortunes come for the good)
  • Dutch: Na regen komt zonneschijn (literally: After rain comes sunshine)
  • Russian: Нет худа без добра (Net khuda bez dobra) (literally: There's no bad without good)
  • Polish: Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło (literally: There's no bad that doesn't turn out for the good)
  • Arabic: رب ضارة نافعة (Rubba ḍārratin nāfiʿa) (literally: Perhaps a harm is a benefit)
  • Turkish: Her işte bir hayır vardır (literally: There is some good in everything)

Origin: From a story in the Huainanzi (2nd century BC): an old man of the frontier loses his horse, which comes back with a fine stallion; his son breaks a leg riding it, and the injury saves him from being sent to war.

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