Dicho español · Spanish proverb

«El que nace para maceta, del corredor no pasa.»

Word for word

He who is born for a flowerpot never leaves the corridor.

What it really means

The closest English equivalent: You can't escape your destiny.

Used to express that people cannot change their fate or social position. It is often said with resignation or irony.

Hear it in a sentence

El que nace para maceta, del corredor no pasa; por más que lo intentó, nunca salió de su barrio.

You can't escape your destiny; no matter how hard he tried, he never left his neighborhood.

Why learn dichos?

Proverbs like this one are everywhere in spoken Spanish — dropped mid-conversation, usually just the first half, with the rest left for you to complete. Recognizing them is one of the fastest ways to sound less like a textbook and follow real speech. Every Lingocito edition signs off with the dicho del día, so you meet one a day next to news written at your exact level.

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