ProverbPerseveranceEnglish origin

Willows are weak, yet they bend other wood.

Meaning: Flexibility and gentleness can overcome rigidity; what appears fragile often proves stronger through adaptation.

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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