If there be no REMEDY then welcome Pilvall

Meaning & Analysis

If a situation is hopeless and has no solution or cure, then one must accept the inevitable, grim outcome (represented by 'Pilvall').

Insights

Stoic Resignation

The proverb champions a stoic philosophy of accepting fate. When circumstances are beyond human control, the wisest course of action is not to fight uselessly but to embrace the outcome with dignity and composure.

Making Peace with Fate

It serves as a metaphor for the final stage of confronting tragedy. After all efforts to find a 'remedy' have failed, 'welcoming Pilvall' symbolizes the difficult but necessary act of making peace with loss, failure, or mortality.

Pragmatic Acceptance

The proverb advises on the conservation of emotional energy. To struggle against an unchangeable reality is draining and futile. Accepting the situation allows one to redirect focus from a hopeless battle to enduring the outcome with grace.

The Mystery of 'Pilvall'

The proverb's power lies in the mysterious name 'Pilvall', which likely represents an unavoidable, undesirable fate such as ruin or death. Its obscurity makes it a universal symbol for any personal 'worst-case scenario', allowing the proverb to be highly adaptable. It reflects a pre-modern fatalism, where acceptance was a key virtue in the face of limited medical and social remedies.

Psychology of Acceptance

This proverb is a profound statement on psychological resilience. It captures the transition from denial and struggle ('seeking a remedy') to acceptance. 'Welcoming' the inevitable is framed not as passive defeat, but as an active, conscious choice to find peace when all other options are exhausted, a core tenet of stoic philosophy.

Cultural Resonance

The sentiment echoes the 'memento mori' (remember you must die) tradition prevalent in medieval and Renaissance culture, which encouraged reflection on mortality to live a more meaningful life. By 'welcoming' the end, one strips it of its terror and asserts a final act of personal agency.

Rhetorical Devices

Symbolism

'Pilvall' functions as a powerful, enigmatic symbol for any ultimate, negative outcome. Its vagueness allows it to represent death, ruin, or any personal catastrophe, making the proverb universally applicable.

Personification

The act of 'welcoming' a terrible fate is a form of personification that gives the abstract concept of 'the end' a tangible quality. This transforms the passive experience of suffering into an active gesture of reception.

Antithetical Structure

The 'If... then...' structure creates a stark conditional logic that contrasts the search for a solution ('remedy') with the finality of acceptance ('welcome Pilvall'), highlighting the turning point where struggle must cease.

acceptancefatestoicisminevitabilityresignationresilience
Analyzed with gemini-2.5-pro on June 30, 2025

Transcription

Quotations

1670, RAY, p. 189

Original Scan

If there be no REMEDY then welcome Pilvall - a scanned entry from Tilley's 1950 Dictionary of Proverbs.
Scan courtesy of HathiTrust Digital Library.
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.

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Last updated: January 27, 2026