if the mountain will not come to Mohammed

proverb One must change one's actions accordingly if things do not proceed as one would like them to. A shortening of the phrase "If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain." You'll have to go woo investors if they won't come to you. If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain. A: "You want to reconcile with your sister, right?" B: "Yeah, but I don't want to make the first move." A: "Well, if the mountain will not come to Mohammed…." If this is something you really want, you're going to have to make more of an effort. Remember, if the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.

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if the mountain will not come to Mohammed...

When you can’t get your own way, bow to the inevitable. The complete expression is, “If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.” This expression, with the spelling Mahomet (a slightly different transliteration from Arabic), is based on the story that Mohammed once asked for miraculous proof of his teachings and ordered Mount Safa to come to him. When the mountain did not move, he said, “God is merciful. Had it obeyed my words it would have fallen on us to our destruction.” Sir Francis Bacon retold the story, saying, “If the Hil will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the Hil” (in Of Boldnesse, 1597). It was repeated in John Ray’s English Proverbs (1678) and numerous sources thereafter, including Shaw’s play, The Doctor’s Dilemma (1906).

See also: come, if, mountain, not, to, will

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