It is always darkest just before the Day dawneth.Īs is often the case with idioms and proverbs, especially those that date to the 1600 or 1700s, the exact phrasing has changed. But, this doesn’t mean that he was the first person to ever use the phrase or one with similar meaning. It appeared in his work A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine and the Confines Thereof. The phrase “it’s always darkest before the dawn” was first used by English theologian Thomas Fuller in 1650. The sun comes up, the darkness clears, and the path is laid out clearly in front of one’s eyes. The dawn represents the time when things start to get better. This could be anything from a financial, marital, social, or political problem. The dark, in this metaphor, represents whatever struggle one is engaged in. There, when things are at the darkest, is when one is about to see the dawn. It’s similar to the idea of hitting rock bottom. It suggests that when one is suffering the most, they’re the closest to making it out of their suffering. “It’s always darkest before the dawn” describes an attitude towards hardship.
