every stick has two ends

Definitions

Every situation has two sides.

Equivalents

Examples

“But every stick⟳ has two ends, says a Russian proverb, and if the chemical shells helped the Germans, so, by and by, when we and our Allies began to adopt⟳ them, they caused also a great deal⟳ of damage⟳ to the Germans .”

“Apparently forgetting the times in which we live⟳, the U.S. defense secretary, far from advocating mutual disarmament, called on America to increase⟳ its strength so as to be able to destroy⟳ the socialist countries both singly and combined. We scarcely need⟳ point⟳ out that this bellicose call⟳ by a representative of the Pentagon is fraught with great danger and above all, to America itself. Every stick⟳ has two ends.”

“The saying “every stick⟳ has two ends” is apropos here. Every situation has an upside and downside, and the bigger the stick⟳, the bigger the ends.”

CEFR level