Meaning & Analysis
A piece of cloth or wool that cannot absorb any dye is considered to be of poor quality and therefore useless.
Insights
Resistance to Influence
This proverb suggests that a person who is completely resistant to influence, teaching, or moral correction is inherently flawed or a hopeless case. It speaks to the undesirability of being unteachable or incorrigible.
Potential for Improvement
Viewed from another angle, it implies that nearly everyone and everything has some potential for improvement. Just as almost any cloth can be dyed, almost any person can be changed or improved in some small way.
Flawed Arguments
The proverb serves as a metaphor for persuasion. It suggests that even the weakest or most flawed argument can be made more appealing or plausible if presented with some skill or 'color'.
Craft and Character
Originating from a craft-based society where dyeing textiles was a vital skill, the proverb uses the quality of cloth as a metaphor for human character. The Italian origin points to the heart of the Renaissance textile industry, where the value of raw materials was judged by their potential.
Psychology of Malleability
The proverb reflects a deep-seated psychological and social value placed on malleability. It implicitly critiques a 'fixed mindset', framing stubbornness or an unwillingness to be influenced not just as a personal failing but as a fundamental defect of character.
Rhetorical Application
John Lyly's 1580 use of the proverb in 'Euphues' extends the metaphor to rhetoric, suggesting that even the weakest argument ('bad cloth') can be improved with skillful persuasion ('color'). This highlights a cynical view on the nature of truth and argumentation.
Rhetorical Devices
Extended Metaphor
The proverb's central device is a metaphor comparing a person's innate character or an argument's substance to 'cloth' and the potential for change or persuasion to its ability to take 'color'.
Symbolism
'Cloth' and 'color' function as powerful symbols for nature and nurture, respectively. Cloth is the raw, inherent quality, while color is the external influence that modifies it.
Aphoristic Statement
The proverb is framed as a definitive, declarative statement, which lends it an air of absolute, unassailable folk wisdom.
Transcription
Quotations
Be your cloath neuer so badde it will take some colour, and your cause neuer so false, it will beare some shew of probabilytie.
(It is a bad cloth . . . that).
(It is bad cloth).
('Tis bad cloth will).
(Bad Cloath it is that).
That's ill wooll that can not be dyed.
(It's a bad cloth indeed will).
Annotations
- Ital.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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