phrase
also: Philosophy & Psychology
Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining
Bad situations contain a hidden good — the optimist's proverb of choice.
Origin
Coined by John Milton in *Comus* (1634): 'Was I deceiv'd, or did a sable cloud / Turn forth her silver lining on the night?' Reused throughout 19th-century Victorian sermons and self-help writing, which compressed it into the proverbial form we use today.
Modern usage
Standard consolation at every layoff, breakup, missed flight, and bad medical scan. The cheerful counterweight to anyone declaring a situation hopeless. So overused it has spawned its own cynical rejoinders ('every silver lining has a cloud').
Tags
optimism
consolation
milton
proverb