The darkest hour is just before the dawn
Meaning: Situations often worsen right before they improve dramatically.
Origin: The theologian and historian Thomas Fuller wrote in A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine (1650) that it is always darkest just before the day dawns. Fuller meant it as spiritual consolation: rescue comes when things look most hopeless.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: C'est à l'heure la plus sombre qu'apparaît l'aube (literally: It is at the darkest hour that dawn appears)
- Spanish: La hora más oscura es justo antes del amanecer (literally: The darkest hour is just before dawn)
- Japanese: 夜明け前が最も暗い (Yoake mae ga mottomo kurai) (literally: Just before dawn is the darkest)
- German: Wenn die Not am größten, ist die Hilfe am nächsten (literally: When the need is greatest, help is nearest)
More proverbs about Challenge
- It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness — Taking constructive action is more effective than complaining about a problem.
- When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion — Collective effort by many can overcome even the most powerful opposition.
- It is not the size of the dog in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the dog — Determination and spirit matter far more than physical size or advantage.
- The obstacle is the path — Difficulties are not barriers to our goals but the very means by which we achieve them.
- After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb — Every achievement reveals further challenges ahead; success is a continuous journey.
- Fortune favors the prepared mind — Success comes not from luck alone but from being ready to seize opportunities when they a…
From our tongue twisters
- Packa pappas kappsäck. — Three words, six hard k and p stops, and almost no vowel variety to rest on.
- Flyg, fula fluga, flyg! Och den fula flugan flög. — An 'fl' cluster repeated through three different vowels — y, u and ö, all of them front r…
- De koetsier poetst de postkoets met postkoetspoets. — Turns on the gap between the Dutch 'oe' and 'o', with a run of 'ts' and 'p' stops layered…