Home › Proverbs

They complain wrongfully of the sea, who twice suffer shipwreck.

Meaning: Repeated misfortune from the same cause reveals poor judgment rather than bad luck.

Origin: From 'A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases' (1870). Public domain.

More proverbs about Challenge

  • He that will not be counselled cannot be helped. — Resistance to advice ensures problems persist; help requires receptiveness to guidance.
  • He covers me with his wings, and bites me with his bill. — A protector may simultaneously harm you through the very closeness required to defend you.
  • A crooked tree will have a crooked shadow. — Flawed character inevitably produces flawed outcomes, just as a tree's deformity cannot c…
  • Daylight will peep through a small hole. — Light finds its way through the tiniest opening, so truth and hope cannot be completely s…
  • There are none so deaf as those who will not hear. — Willful ignorance is more impenetrable than physical deafness; people reject truth they r…
  • Out of debt, out of danger. — Freedom from financial obligations eliminates the vulnerability that creditors and desper…

← Back to Proverbs

Loading the full interactive collection…