What is One swallow does not make a summer:
One swallow does not make a summeris a popular saying that warns that of the confirmation of a single fact cannot be deduced as a rule or general rule.
Swallows are birds that migrate long or short distances since they are characterized by settling in places with favorable climates to survive, and in the winter season they travel in flocks of many kilometers to settle in areas that have warm climates and availability of food and habitat. Also, they lay their eggs and give birth to their young.
In consideration of the above, the arrival of a single swallow in an area is not synonymous with the coming of summer, since one could have come early. This paremia can be carried into the daily life of the human being, and determine that an indication that is not met regularly cannot be seen as a norm or general rule.
It is a popular and widely used saying, and can be used in countless situations in everyday life. For example: an individual who migrates to another country and his experience has not been the best due to the difficulty of finding work and stabilizing in the new country does not imply that every individual who goes to the same place will do the same in the search for their economic and social stability.
The saying as such presents its own variants such as: “one swallow does not make a summer, not a single virtue makes a blessed person,” “not a finger makes a hand, nor does a swallow make a summer,” “not a flower makes a summer, nor does a swallow make a summer.” ”.
On the other hand, the proverb was used by the writer Miguel de Cervantes, in the book “The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha”: “–With all that–said the traveler–, it seems to me, if I remember correctly, to have I read that Don Galaor, brother of the brave Amadís de Gaula, never had a notable lady to whom he could entrust himself; and, with all this, he was not held in contempt, and he was a very brave and famous knight. To which our Don Quixote responded: “Sir, one swallow alone does not make a summer.”
The philosophical Aristotle, in the book “Nichomachean Ethics” expressed: “Because a swallow does not make a summer, not even a single day, and thus neither does it make a single day or a short time blessed and happy.”
In EnglishFor its part, the saying “a swallow does not make a trip” translates as “One swallow does not make a summer”, used in the same sense.
See also The exception proves the rule.