всё, что не делается, всё к лучшему

[wondershot.livejournal.com]

Dear lovely Russian forum,

A friend of mine has used the expression "всё, что не делается, всё к лучшему". She translates it as "Everything that's done is done for good." Is this how you would translate it? What situations would you use it in?

It sounds kind of beautiful in that good, depressing Russian way.

Comments

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

well, not really for good (=forever), but rather for the better. :)

[gera.livejournal.com]

... for the better.

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

...and apparently you'd use it when something bad or unpleasant happens, you'd use it in the hope for the better.

[wondershot.livejournal.com]

It sounds kind of like the English expression "it's all for the best".

Fitting, since we were talking about the implosion of my literature MA.

[evermore-spb.livejournal.com]

It's not a russian proverb, it comes from Volter, who wrote in 'Candid, or the optimism' the famous phrase 'All is for the best in this best of worlds' ("Всё к лучшему в этом лучшем из миров").

[evermore-spb.livejournal.com]

Voltaire, of course.

[wondershot.livejournal.com]

So that's where that expression came from.

[merry1978.livejournal.com]

It is not a quote from Voltaire, but a Russian proverb with a close meaning. It's quite normal for proverbs ))

[evermore-spb.livejournal.com]

Well, here is the source http://pitgamivri-rusi.blogspot.com/2008/02/blog-post_12.html. It doesn't connect these phrases so directly indeed, but it's as 'original Russian proverb' as many others ;) However, as you wish, no argue)

[merry1978.livejournal.com]

I guess it is either a common notion, or a much older saying, but, as far as I know, it is not borrowed directly from Voltaire into Russian. Not really 'original' (as in 'uinque'), you are right ))

There are some very close proverbs in Dal's Dictionary of Proverbs, and I doubt very much that Russian peasants were familiar with Voltaire ;)

It is always fun though, to find similar ideas and proverbs in different cultures. Makes me feel good ususally ))

[o-jovem-louco.livejournal.com]

The word that may have confused you is 'ни' (the correct variant is "Всё, что ни делается, — к лучшему"). So the translation given by your friend is nearly literal.

[merry1978.livejournal.com]

This Russian saying is used more or less in the same situations as "every cloud has a silver lining" or "it's all for the best", meaning that in a hard situation there is always something good, and even when things go bad something good will come later from all our hardships.

[merry1978.livejournal.com]

Oh, the correct variant is "Всё, что ни делается..." I didn't notice the typo at first.

[katherinka.livejournal.com]

Correction:"все, что ни делается, все к лучшему"
"не" is "not"

[wondershot.livejournal.com]

Thanks guys. Awesome.

всё, что НИ делается, всё к лучшему

[alyma.livejournal.com]

well, it's not exactly russian

it's one of the fundamental postulates of philosophical and esoteric thought of the mankind

[oryx_and_crake]

It's not exactly "everything that is done", it's rather "everything that happens". "Делается" is impersonal and includes, for example, weather and other various "acts of God".

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

But isn't it really everything that *doesn't* happen? I mean, there is a "ni" before delaetsya...

[oryx_and_crake]

Yes and no. The OP confused ни and не. The way he wrote it, it is indeed "what is NOT done is for the best", but this is clearly a spelling mistake (very common even among native speakers). The correct version is "все, что НИ делается, все к лучшему".

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

Can you explain the difference?

[oryx_and_crake]

все, что не делается - everything that is not done
что ни делается, все к лучшему - whatever is done, is done for the best

мы не делали - we did not do
что бы мы ни делали - whatever we did


if you search for "частицы "не" и "ни"" in Yandex, I am sure you will find a lot of reference material.

[pinky-the-cow.livejournal.com]

I'd say it was the friend of OP was the one confusing "не" with "ни". And the OP just copied it.

I mean it, it probably has to do with the way they learn the language. Instead of grasping the logic and toying with that sort of tiny changes which makes big differences, they try to memorize the set of rules. Never understood it, it's harder in every way.

In this particular case my brave little theory would be based on possible other rules interposing in the way of the person's judgement. :) Like, oh, yeah, I must remember properly that "«не» с глаголами пишется раздельно" ("ne" is always separate from the verbs).
A few more rules for other parts and person's mind overloads, forgetting the critical error, the rule being used as a bizzarre justification of choosing "не".

Some parts of the language are taught less intensively, with less of those slogans and mnemonics, and the result is pitiful.
You can't go wrong, once you realize and come to appreciate the fact, that you can use both of the structures: with "ни" and with "не" — to convey certain, yet different sense.

"Что бы ты не говорил" — the next moment you see this, an error is obvious. A person who types that could've made one of the three mistakes. Because in this form the sentence is a mess.
1. Чтобы ты не говорил. ("Чтобы ты ни говорил" is wrong) = In order for you not to speak.// Poor "Чтобы/что бы" is next to impossible for so many of random teenagers.
2. Что бы ты ни говорил. = Whatever you said.// This whole sentence can be considered a big equivalent of a noun.
3. Что бы ты ни не говорил. = ~Whatever you haven't been saying.// My friend's native is Russian, yet even he hates multiple negativities. Yet I'm pretty fond of them. :)
And piles of "ни не"s (Ни не есть конфет до обеда, ни не возвращаться домой после шести — родители не ставили никаких условий) or "не ни"s (Не «ни рыба, ни мясо», а вполне нормальнй человек.). ^_^

[pinky-the-cow.livejournal.com]

typo: нормальный*

[moai-s.livejournal.com]

"Everything that's done is done for good" comes to Voltaire's novel "Candide ou l’optimisme". The allegedly Russian proverb "всё, что не делается, всё к лучшему" is a version of The Candide's motto "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds". An English translation of which have been titled "Candide: Or, All for the Best" in 1759. In his comic novella Voltaire lampooned a doctrine of Gottfried von Leibniz (German philosopher) by having the character Dr. Pangloss (a parody of Leibniz) repeat "all is for the best" like a mantra.