one swallow does not a summer make

Alternative forms

 * one swallow does not a spring make
 * one swallow does not make a spring
 * one swallow does not make a summer
 * one swallow doesn't a spring make
 * one swallow doesn't a summer make
 * one swallow doesn't make a spring
 * one swallow doesn't make a summer

Etymology
, part of a remark found in 's ' (1098a18: “one swallow does not a spring make, nor one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy”), itself inspired by the fable ' by.

The proverb is an allusion to the migration of swallows to Europe during spring. The unexpected translation of (meaning "spring") as "summer" seen in English is also encountered in many other languages, such as 🇨🇬 and 🇨🇬 (note the descendants at the Ancient Greek entry).

The unusual English word order (in use from ) may be intended to reflect the Greek word order, or it may be influenced by the line “Stone walls do not a prison make,” from  by (1642).

Proverb

 * 1) One instance of an event (such as the arrival of a single bird) does not necessarily indicate a trend.

Translations

 * Armenian: մի ծաղկով գարուն չի գա
 * Bulgarian: една птичка пролет не прави
 * Catalan: una flor no fa estiu
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: 一燕不成夏, 孤燕不成夏, 獨燕不成夏
 * Czech:
 * Danish: én svale gør ingen sommer
 * Dutch: een zwaluw maakt nog geen lente, een zwaluw maakt nog geen zomer, één ooievaar maakt nog geen zomer, één zwaluw maakt de lente niet
 * Esperanto: unu kukolo printempon ne venigas
 * Finnish: ei yksi pääsky kesää tee
 * French:
 * Galician: unha anduriña soa non fai verán
 * Georgian: ერთი ენძელა გაზაფხულს ვერ მოიყვანს
 * German:, einmal ist keinmal
 * Greek: ένα χελιδόνι δεν φέρνει την άνοιξη
 * Ancient: μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ
 * Hungarian:
 * Italian: una rondine non fa primavera
 * Korean: 한 마리의 제비가 왔다고 봄이 온 것은 아니다
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål:
 * Nynorsk: ein svale gjer ingen sommar
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian: cu o floare nu se face primăvară
 * Russian: пе́рвая ла́сточка весны́ не де́лает
 * Scottish Gaelic: cha dèan aon smeòrach samhradh
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Cyrillic: једна ласта не чини прољеће
 * Roman: jedna lasta ne čini proljeće
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish: en svala gör ingen sommar
 * Vietnamese: một con nhạn không làm nên mùa xuân, một con én không làm nên mùa xuân
 * Welsh: un wennol ni wna wanwyn