This too shall pass

"This too shall pass" (Persian: این نیز بگذرد‎‎, pronunciation:īn nīz bogzarad, Arabic: لا شيء يدوم‎ ("Nothing endures"), Hebrew: גם זה יעבור‎ ("Gam Zeh Yaavor"), Turkish: Bu da geçer yâ hû, Latin: hoc quoque finiet) is an adage indicating that all material conditions, positive or negative, are temporary. The phrase seems to have originated in the writings of the medieval Persian Sufi poets, and is often attached to a fable of a great king who is humbled by the simple words. Some versions of the fable, beginning with that of Attar of Nishapur, add the detail that the phrase is inscribed on a ring, which has the ability to make the happy man sad and the sad man happy. The adage and associated fable were popular in the first half of the 19th century, appearing in a collection of tales by the English poet Edward Fitzgerald and being employed in a speech by Abraham Lincoln before he became president.

History

The phrase appears in the works of Persian Sufi poets, such as Sanai and Attar of Nishapur. Attar records the fable of a powerful king who asks assembled wise men to create a ring that will make him happy when he is sad. After deliberation the sages hand him a simple ring with the words "This too will pass" etched on it, which has the desired effect to make him happy when he is sad. It also, however, became a curse for whenever he is happy.

This too shall pass (disambiguation)

"This too shall pass" is an adage about the temporary nature of existence.

This Too Shall Pass may also refer to:

This Too Shall Pass (OK Go song)

"This Too Shall Pass" is an alternative rock song by OK Go from the album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky. The single was released in January 2010. The band took the unorthodox route of creating two official music videos for the song, both of which premiered on YouTube. The first features a live performance of the song in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame Marching Band. The second features a giant Rube Goldberg machine, constructed to operate in time with the song. The popularity of the second music video of the song has been compared to that of the band's video for "Here It Goes Again", helping to boost live performances and single song sales for the group but did not significantly improve sales of the Colour album. Difficulties in marketing and distribution of the videos with their corporate label, EMI, led the band to form their own independent label shortly after the videos' releases.

The song was featured in the films The Joneses, Freakonomics and The Vow. It was also featured in the video game Top Spin 4. It was also used as the theme song for the U.S. version of The Inbetweeners.