The mill cannot grind with the water that is past.
Meaning: Dwelling on past opportunities wastes energy; focus your effort on present circumstances to achieve results.
Origin: George Herbert's Outlandish Proverbs (1640) gives it as "The mill cannot grind with the water that's past." Sarah Doudney's Victorian poem "The Lesson of the Water-Mill" made it famous: time and chances once gone cannot be used again.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, and Japanese
- French: Le moulin ne moult pas avec l’eau coulée en bas (literally: The mill does not grind with water that is past)
- Spanish: Agua pasada no mueve molino (literally: Water that has gone by does not turn the mill)
- Japanese: 覆水盆に返らず (Fukusui bon ni kaerazu) (literally: Spilled water does not return to the tray)
More proverbs about Challenge
- Better be half hanged than ill wed. — Marriage to the wrong person brings lasting torment worse than a swift, terrible death.
- There are many ways of killing a dog beside hanging him. — Multiple methods exist to achieve the same harmful outcome, so don't fixate on one partic…
- High winds blow on high hills. — Exposure and prominence invite greater adversity and scrutiny than sheltered, ordinary po…
- A hog in armour is still but a hog. — Fine clothing cannot transform base character; inner nature persists regardless of extern…
- Do not holloa till you are out of the wood. — Avoid celebrating success prematurely; dangers may persist until you've completely escape…
- The stillest humours are always the worst. — Quiet resentment festers dangerously; unexpressed anger poses greater threat than obvious…
From our compliments & insults
- Sei un salame — You're a clumsy, dopey softie — said with a smile.
- Eres más corto que las mangas de un chaleco — You're not the sharpest — a bit slow on the uptake.
- Du bist nicht die hellste Kerze auf der Torte — You're a little dim — not the smartest in the room.