You can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear
Meaning: Inferior materials cannot be transformed into superior products through effort alone.
Origin: The earliest record is in Stephen Gosson's Ephemerides of Phialo (1579), and later writers called it an old saying. In 1921 the chemist Arthur D. Little set out to disprove it: he had glue made from sows' ears spun into fibers and woven into silk purses. One is now at the Smithsonian, the other at MIT.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, and Japanese
- French: le singe est toujours singe, fût-il vêtu de pourpre
- Spanish: Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda (literally: Even if the monkey dresses in silk, she remains a monkey)
- Japanese: 瓦は磨いても玉にならず (Kawara wa migaite mo tama ni narazu) (literally: A roof tile, however much you polish it, will not become a jewel)
More proverbs about Wisdom
- You can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds — Loyalty to opposing sides simultaneously is impossible; you must choose which faction to…
- You don't dip your pen in company ink — Romantic entanglements with colleagues create workplace conflicts and jeopardize professi…
- You don't miss the water till the well runs dry — We overlook what sustains us until deprivation forces us to recognize its true value.
- Absence cools moderate passions, and inflames violent ones. — Distance fades mild affections but makes intense ones burn all the hotter.
- The absent are always at fault. — Those not present to defend themselves get the blame.
- Give neither advice nor salt until you are asked for it. — Offer advice only when it's asked for; unsolicited counsel is rarely welcome.
From our idioms
- Ser la oveja negra — To be the outcast of the family or group.
- Echar leña al fuego — To make a bad situation worse.
- Tener más cara que espalda — To be utterly shameless and brazen.