You cannot make a silk purse of a sow's ear.
Proverbs on a similar topic
- No man can serve two masters.
- If wishes were horses beggars would ride.
- You cannot eat your cake and have it.
- To carry coals to Newcastle.
- He that is born a fool is never cured.
- Look not for musk in a dog's kennel.
- If the young man would and the old man could, there would be nothing undone.
- You cannot flay the same ox twice.
Related proverbs
Similar proverbs in the same language
English
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You cannot make a sieve of an ass's tail.
Similar proverbs in another language
Latin
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Asini cauda non facit cribrum.
A donkey's tail does not make a sieve.
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Ex harena funiculum nectere.
Make a rope out of the sand.
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Funem ex arena facere.
To make a rope out of sand.
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Ex harena funem nectere.
Make a rope out of the sand.
French
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Ce n'est pas le tout que des choux, il faut encore de la graisse.
You don't just need cabbage, you also need fat.
German
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Aus des Esels Wedel wird kein Sieb.
The donkey's frond does not become a sieve.
Czech
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Z hovna bič neupleteš.
You can't weave a whip out of shit.
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Ze záprtku kuře míti nemůžete.
You can't have a chicken out of a plug.
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Z motovidla nebude šíp.
The bowstring won't be an arrow.
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Nebude z té reži mouka.
It's not gonna be flour.