- English translation
Night is short only for those who sleep through it.
- Literal wording
The night is not short except for the one who sleeps it.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying points out that how long a night feels depends on the person living through it. For a sleeper, the hours vanish unnoticed. For someone kept awake by pain, worry, work, or waiting, the same darkness drags on and seems to have no end.
More broadly, it warns against judging someone else's hardship by your own comfort. A person at ease may call a trial brief or trivial, while the one enduring it feels every slow hour. The proverb asks the listener to see time and suffering from the sufferer's side.
- When it is used
Suitable when someone who rests easily underestimates how long a night feels to someone sleepless, sick, worried, or keeping watch. It can also gently point out that a comfortable person may misjudge another's ordeal.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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