Every cloud has a silver lining.

The proverb pictures a dark cloud whose edges shine because the sun is hidden behind it: however black a misfortune looks, some light or benefit can be found in it. It is used to comfort someone after a setback, such as a lost job that leads to a better one, or a cancelled trip that brings an unexpected meeting. “A silver lining” has become an idiom on its own.

The image is old. In John Milton’s masque Comus (1634), a young lady lost at night in a dark wood sees “a sable cloud / Turn forth her silver lining on the night”, and takes heart.

Other languages express the same idea with other images. French says “À quelque chose malheur est bon”, and Spanish “No hay mal que por bien no venga”: there is no harm from which some good does not come.

English proverb