ProverbChallengeEnglish origin

Whether you boil snow or pound it, you will have but water from it.

Meaning: Effort cannot change the fundamental nature of something inherently worthless or insignificant.

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.

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