you never know what you can do until you try
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
One's capabilities are only discovered through attempting something
Examples
She thought she couldn't run a marathon, but you never know what you can do until you try
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 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “you never know what you can do until you try” mean?
One's capabilities are only discovered through attempting something
Is “you never know what you can do until you try” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.