every rose has its thorn

proverb

Every good situation includes some aspect of misfortune or adversity.

Similar
there is no rose without a thorn

Meanings

proverb

alternative every rose has a thorn

  1. Every good situation includes some aspect of misfortune or adversity.

    But every rose has its thorn, and the sharpest was yet to jab us.

    2014, Sophia Loren, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life, →ISBN, page 32
    4 more examples

    He is ſo good that there is no trouble in him, for that is the imperfection of all earthly good things, as there is a drop of honey, ſo there is a drop of gall; Every Roſe hath its thorn;

    1656, Anthony Burges, “Sermon XI: Treateth of Eternall Life in the Nature and Properties of it”, in CXLV Expoſitory Sermons Upon the whole 17th Chapter of the Gospel According to St. John, […], London: […] Abraham Miller for Thomas Underhill, page 57

    The Tryals you have had of thoſe things which the World dotes upon hath taught you to deſpiſe them, and you have found by experience that neither the endowments of Nature, nor the advantages of Fortune, are ſufficient for happineſs: that every Roſe hath its thorn,and there may be a Worm at the root of the faireſt Gourd, ſome ſecret and undiſcerned grief which may make a perſon deſerve the pity of thoſe who perhaps do admire or envy their ſuppoſed felicity:

    1677, Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man: or, The Nature and Excellency of the Chriſtian Religion, London: […] Charles Smith; William Jacob, pages 96-97

    Bill—just remember every rose has it's ^([sic]) thorn and you have Lee King.

    2011, Lee King, Bill Christian Private Investigator in: The Yadkin River Werewolf Case, →ISBN

    However, every rose has its thorn, and alopecia universalisis no different.

    2014, Turney Hall, An Eagle Soars: One Man's Journey to Baldness, →ISBN

    Synonyms: there is no rose without a thorn

Synonyms & antonyms

proverbEvery good situation includes some aspect of misfortune or adversity.

Similar
there is no rose without a thorn
Cite this entry
APA

every rose has its thorn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/every%20rose%20has%20its%20thorn

MLA

“every rose has its thorn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/every%20rose%20has%20its%20thorn. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “every rose has its thorn,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/every%20rose%20has%20its%20thorn.

Source: every rose has its thorn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.