While there's life there's hope.
Meaning: Despair closes doors only death truly opens; circumstances remain changeable while breath remains.
Origin: Cicero wrote in a letter to his friend Atticus that while a sick man has breath, there is said to be hope, and the Greek poet Theocritus has a shepherd say that hopes are for the living, while the dead have none. The English proverb carries the same stubborn optimism.
Equivalents in Italian
- Italian: Finché vi è fiato vi è speranza (literally: While there’s life there’s hope)
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Every light has its shadow. — Visibility and prominence inevitably create darkness elsewhere; success or advantage alwa…
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- Little things please little minds. — Petty concerns and simple pleasures satisfy those with narrow interests and limited intel…
- Matrimony's a matter of money. — Successful marriage requires financial stability and shared economic understanding betwee…
- The merry month of May. — May's arrival brings renewal and joy, celebrated as nature's most vibrant and hopeful sea…
- Music helps not the toothache. — Pleasant diversions cannot cure underlying physical pain that demands direct treatment.
From our untranslatable words
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- Cafuné — The tender act of running your fingers through someone's hair — an intimate gesture of lo…
- Shinrin-yoku — Immersing yourself in the atmosphere of a forest — soaking up its calm through all your s…