es kann nicht sein, was nicht sein darf
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
German[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Literally, “What must not be, cannot be”. From the 1909 poem Die unmögliche Tatsache by Christian Morgenstern.
Pronunciation[edit]
Proverb[edit]
es kann nicht sein, was nicht sein darf
- people find it extremely hard to accept facts when they go against their firmly held conviction or are otherwise devastating to them
- Obwohl man den Krieg längst verloren wusste, führte man ihn weiter nach dem Prinzip: Es kann nicht sein, was nicht sein darf!
- Although it had long been known that the war was lost, it was continued true to the principle: What must not be, cannot be!