A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

It is a LONG lane that has no turning
Commonly used as an assertion that an unfavourable situation will eventually change for the better.

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  1633 Stationers’ Register (1877) IV. 273 (ballad) Long runns that neere turnes. 1670 J. RAY English Proverbs 117 It’s a long run that never turns. 1732 T. FULLER Gnomologia no. 2863 It is a long Lane that never turns. 1748 RICHARDSON Clarissa IV. xxxii. It is a long lane that has no turning—Do not despise me for my proverbs. 1945 F. P. KEYES River Road VIII. xxxvii. ‘You’re through in politics, Gervais. You might just as well face it.’.. ‘It’s a long lane that has no turning.’ 2002 Country Life 11 Apr. 117 ‘It’s a long road that doesn’t have to turn some time,’ says Mr Plant, who intends to continue sheep farming, like his father and grandfather before him. "circumstances;
  

perseverance
long see also (adjective) ART is long and life is short; be the DAY weary or be the day long, at last it ringeth to evensong; KINGS have long arms; NEVER is a long time; OLD sins cast long shadows; SHORT reckonings make long friends; a STERN chase is a long chase; he who SUPS with the Devil should have a long spoon; (adverb) he LIVES long who lives well; no matter how long a LOG stays in the water.. ; LOVE me little, love me long; if you SIT by the river for long enough.. ; THREATENED men live long; happy’s the WOOING that is not long a-doing.
The LONGEST journey begins with a single step
Attributed to Lao-tzu (c 604-c 531 BC), founder of Taoism.

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  1904 Sayings of Lao Tzu tr. L. Giles 51A journey of a thousand miles began with a single step. 1947 L. LEE Twisted Mirror x. 87 Willie looked at him with all the solemnity of an old Chinese priest. ‘Even a journey of a thousand miles, my honored superior,’ he intoned, ‘begins with but a single step.’ 1983 National Review 29 Apr. 485 Of the 15,000 people treated there.., nearly all smoked marijuana. Which proves nothing. Except that the longest journey begins with a single step. 2001 Washington Times 28 July F9 (Herb & Jamaal comic strip) ‘They say life is a journey. .. And there’s an old saying: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” My first step was into an abandoned shaft.’ 2008 African Business June 22 The agreement.. is the first of many steps the continent will have to take if its own Green Revolution is to succeed. The road is long but every journey begins with the first step. ■beginnings and endings