Uncertain outcome

An unpromising young animal may grow into a fine one. Early appearance or condition is not a reliable measure of later quality.

A child’s apparent intelligence or good sense does not reliably predict how he will behave later. Early promise should not be treated as a permanent measure of character or judgment.

The saying observes that favorable chance can sometimes matter more to an outcome than intelligence, judgment, or careful planning. It highlights the limits of wisdom when events do not unfold as expected.

Unintended results often arise alongside what people deliberately create. A plan, household, workplace, or relationship can produce consequences that no one meant to introduce, just as unseeded plants appear in a tended garden.

Possibility is always matched by the possibility that events will turn out otherwise. What seems likely or promising should not be treated as certain.

A pursuer’s speed does not ensure success when the intended victim has a different and effective way to get away. The saying contrasts the fox’s running with the chicken’s ability to take flight.

Do not celebrate, boast, or announce success while danger or difficulty still remains. A result is not secure merely because the worst part seems to have passed; wait until the undertaking is truly complete.

Do not treat an expected gain as though it were already yours. Plans, promises, or bargains based on an outcome not yet secured may leave you unable to deliver what you offered.

Bright conditions at the beginning are not guaranteed to continue. The saying advises against treating an early success, favourable mood, or promising start as if it assured a lasting outcome.

Experience can improve judgment, but it cannot reveal every danger before it appears. Life contains risks that remain beyond even well-earned knowledge and careful anticipation.

What one is seeking, watching, or trying to prevent may slip away through the very quarter that seems least likely. The saying counsels against assuming that the obvious route, cause, or danger is the only one worth considering.

A satisfactory outcome can change how people look back on the difficulties that came before it. The ending becomes the main reason to judge the whole experience favorably.

The saying connects a confident expectation of good with receiving or experiencing good. It urges a person to approach an uncertain outcome with trust rather than assume the worst.

The proverb favors something already within reach over a more attractive possibility that remains uncertain. The contrast is between what is secured and what is merely hoped for.

The mouse cannot tell what the cat has in mind from a wink. A small outward gesture gives no reliable access to another creature’s intentions.

The proverb contrasts life's many uncertainties with two outcomes it presents as unavoidable: death and the obligation to pay taxes. Its claim is deliberately sweeping rather than a precise statement about every person's circumstances.

The proverb advises against giving up something dependable for a gain that exists only as a possibility. It places value on keeping what is secure.

Signs of wear do not necessarily mean that something is about to give way. A noisy old gate may remain in place for a surprisingly long time.

The proverb advises against expressing distress over a setback that has not happened. A feared injury is not yet an actual one.

Death cannot be relied on to arrive at a predictable time. No date or plan can guarantee that a person will live until then.

The proverb places two starkly different turns in a person’s life—marriage and execution—under the power of destiny. Its jarring pairing gives a fatalistic view of outcomes that people might otherwise expect to control.

Death can come at any age. Youth offers no guarantee of survival, while even a long life must eventually end.