you can't keep a good man down

proverb

A person who has talent, resolve, or moral strength will eventually succeed despite having been overlooked, injured, or defeated.

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Meanings

proverb
  1. A person who has talent, resolve, or moral strength will eventually succeed despite having been overlooked, injured, or defeated.

    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
    3 more examples

    "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

    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

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 好人自有出頭之日 /好人自有出头之日
  • 好人自有出頭之日 /好人自有出头之日 (hǎorén zìyǒu chūtóu zhī rì)person who has talent will succeed
Finnish ahkeruus kovankin onnen voittaa
  • ahkeruus kovankin onnen voittaaperson who has talent will succeed
Cite this entry
APA

you can't keep a good man down. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/you%20can't%20keep%20a%20good%20man%20down

MLA

“you can't keep a good man down.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/you%20can't%20keep%20a%20good%20man%20down. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “you can't keep a good man down,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/you%20can't%20keep%20a%20good%20man%20down.

Source: you can't keep a good man down on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.