The chamber of sickness is the chapel of devotion.
Meaning: Illness strips away life's distractions, leaving only the essential human need to seek meaning and spiritual comfort.
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
- It chanceth in an hour that comes not in seven years. — Fortune can deliver in moments what patient waiting over years might never produce.
- Change of pasture makes fat calves. — New environments and fresh opportunities allow young, developing people to thrive and gro…
- The charitable give out at the door, and God puts in at the window. — Generosity creates a virtuous cycle where outward giving mysteriously returns through une…
- A cherry year, a merry year. — Abundant harvests of cherries historically signaled prosperity and good fortune for the c…
- A chip of the old block. — Children naturally inherit their parents' character traits and behaviors, reproducing the…
- The nearer the church the farther from God. — Proximity to religious institutions cannot substitute for genuine spiritual devotion or m…
From our false friends
- Sensible — Actually means 'sensitive'. For sensible/level-headed, say raisonnable.
- Librairie — Actually means 'bookshop'. A library is une bibliothèque.
- Constipado — Actually means 'having a head cold'. Estoy constipado = I have a cold.