Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

you can't keep a good man down en · X

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. A person who has talent, resolve, or moral strength will eventually succeed despite having been overlooked, injured, or defeated.
    • He cut a sorry figure after the thumping by England, but you can't keep a good man down. That familiar mix of manic energy and piratical lunacy enabled the totemic Irishman to reassert his status as a world-class performer. 2000 April 3, Chris Hewett, “Rugby: Running talent will put life into Lions”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 18 Jan 2018:
    • "Isn't it perfectly splendid, Mr. Pepper, to think that Archie's genius has at last been recognized? How quiet he kept it. I had no idea that Mr. Brackett was even interested in his work. I wonder how he heard of it?" "Oh, these things get about," I said. "You can't keep a good man down." 1915, P. G. Wodehouse, Concealed Art:
    • You can't keep a good man down. Like the corpse in The Trouble with Harry who just won't stay buried, Alfred Hitchcock keeps popping out of his grave to terrify and delight new audiences. 1984 March 26, Richard Corliss, “Cinema: The Master Who Knew Too Much”, in Time, retrieved 18 Jan 2018:
    • Dunlop suffered a coronary arrest—his heart stopped for almost six minutes. But even at 85, you can't keep a good man down, and he was able to recover. 2013 January 22, Jack Goodstein, “Music Review: Boyd Lee Dunlop—The Lake Reflections”, in Seattle Post-Intelligencer, retrieved 18 Jan 2018:

Translations (2)

fi ahkeruus kovankin onnen voittaa (person who has talent will succeed) · cmn 好人自有出頭之日 /好人自有出头之日 (person who has talent will succeed)