Tis hard to sail o'er the sea in an egg-shell.
Meaning: Fragile vessels cannot survive harsh conditions; attempting impossible tasks with inadequate tools invites failure.
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 Perseverance
- Everything hath an end, and a pudding hath two. — Even desserts that seem endless eventually conclude, and some things finish twice—once ea…
- There's never enough where nothing's left. — Hoarding depletes resources faster than sharing them, making scarcity worse for everyone.
- Tis a hard battle where none escapes. — In conflicts where everyone suffers losses, victory itself becomes meaningless and costly.
- He had need rise betimes that would please everybody. — Rising early cannot satisfy conflicting demands; some desires are inherently incompatible.
- You should never touch your eye but with your elbow. — Protecting your eyes requires maintaining impossible distance from contamination.
- Faint heart never won a fair lady. — Romantic success requires courage; passive timidity guarantees failure in matters of love.
From our tongue twisters
- Król Karol kupił królowej Karolinie korale koloru koralowego. — Every word starts with k, and król/Karol/korale/koloru keep re-ordering the same handful…
- Czy rak trzyma w szczypcach strzęp szczawiu? — Four different Polish sibilant clusters — trz, szcz, strz, szcz — in a single short quest…
- Ząb, zupa zębowa; dąb, zupa dębowa. — Drills the nasal vowels ą and ę, which only differ from plain a and e by the nasal hum.