A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. — Proverb · Smartyfair

Leave without saving?

You have a change that hasn’t been saved yet. Clicking out of the box saves it — closing now throws that change away.

A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. — Proverb · Smartyfair

A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

Proverb

Source not found yetPerseveranceAncient

In plain words

Easy days do not teach you much. Hard ones do.

Look up a word

smooth
sea
never
made
skilled
sailor

Where these words come from

How sure this is: 48% sureThe sources checked so far agree on this one. The book or the speech it first came from hasn't turned up yet.
What turned up: Proverb; relative of 'Calm seas never made a good sailor' (John Ray's proverb collections); absent from FDR's 1938 fireside chat despite common misattribution
Sources checked: en.wiktionary.orgChecked using claude-sonnet-5, 20 August 2026
teachingamericanhistory.orgChecked using manual, 20 August 2026

More on perseverance

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

More inspiration

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Nothing made from these words yet — Storyfaire is where they get made.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Lao Tzu

Slow and steady wins the race.

Patience is the key to relief.Arabic proverb

Drops of water hollow out a stone.

Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Little strokes fell great oaks.

Benjamin Franklin

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

Benjamin Franklin

Well done is better than well said.

Benjamin Franklin

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

Frederick Douglass