a friend cannot be known in prosperity nor an enemy be hidden in adversity
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
You can't truly know someone's intentions when things are going well
Examples
A friend cannot be known in prosperity nor an enemy be hidden in adversity, which is why I'm cautious around new acquaintances.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “a friend cannot be known in prosperity nor an enemy be hidden in adversity” mean?
You can't truly know someone's intentions when things are going well
Is “a friend cannot be known in prosperity nor an enemy be hidden in adversity” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.