
ProverbHuman Nature
International origin
You can't please everyone
Meaning: It's impossible to satisfy every person all the time.
Origin: The fable of the miller, his son and the donkey makes the point: whether they ride or walk, someone criticizes them, until they end up carrying the donkey and losing it. Though often printed with Aesop's fables, it is first written down in the Middle Ages; La Fontaine retold it in 1668, and its moral is usually given as "Please all, and you will please none."
Equivalents in French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, and 2 more languages
French: On ne peut pas plaire à tout le monde (literally: You can't please everyone)
Spanish: No se puede complacer a todos (literally: You can't please everyone)
German: Allen Leuten recht getan, ist eine Kunst, die niemand kann (literally: To do right by all people is an art that no one can manage)
Italian: Non si può piacere a tutti (literally: You can't please everyone)
Portuguese: É difícil agradar a gregos e troianos (literally: It's hard to please both Greeks and Trojans)
Polish: Jeszcze się taki nie urodził, co by wszystkim dogodził (literally: The one who could please everybody hasn't been born yet)
Chinese: 众口难调 (Zhòng kǒu nán tiáo) (literally: Many mouths are hard to season for)
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