Blessing in disguise#Related phrases

The phrase originated in the hymn "Since all the downward tracts of time" by James Hervey (1714–1758), first published in "Reflections on a Flower-garden. In a letter to a lady" (1746), a volume in his best known work, Meditations and Contemplations (1746–1747), but composed earlier.Brewers Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. 16th edition. London: Cassell, 1999, p. 139. {{ISBN|0304350966}}[https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-13113?rskey=dnfJ5r&result=1 Hervey, James.] Isabel Rivers, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 17 August 2019. {{subscription required}} In the hymn, Hervey meditated on the wisdom of accepting whatever God, in his infinite wisdom, chose to bestow on us, even things that appeared at first to be negative, because they were "blessings in disguise":[https://hymnary.org/text/since_all_the_varying_scenes_of_time Since All the Downward Tracts of Time.] Hymnary.org. Retrieved 17 August 2019.

:Since all the downward tracts of time

:God's watchful eye surveys,

:O who so wise to choose our lot

:Or to appoint our ways?

:Good when He gives, supremely good,

:Nor less when He denies;

:Ev'n crosses from His sovereign hand

:Are blessings in disguise.

:Why should we doubt a Father's love,

:So constant and so kind?

:To His unerring, gracious will

:Be every wish resigned.

The draft manuscript of "Reflections on a Flower-garden", along with other works by Hervey, is held by the University of Leeds Special Collections.[https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/83f30e34-32bb-3f40-89a8-39a09c42b6ce Drafts of Meditations among the tombs, and Reflections on a flower-garden, with miscellaneous other material, by James Hervey.] JISC Archives Hub. Retrieved 17 August 2019.

The phrase has been used in a variety of mediums. In 1865, a cartoon titled "Blessings in Disguise" from the American Civil War era showed Confederate President Jefferson Davis surrounded by cities in which the Confederate States had been defeated. It asked whether the losses were a "blessing in disguise" that prevented the Confederate Army being stretched too thinly. A Chinese folk tale tells of how an injury saved a man's life by preventing him from being killed in battle.{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SeBFAAAAQBAJ&q=%22blessing+in+disguise%22+idiom&pg=PT350 | title=500 Common Chinese Idioms: An annotated frequency dictionary| isbn=9781136882562| last1=Jiao| first1=Liwei|publisher=Routledge|place=Abingdon| date=2011}} The phrase is expressed in the words An Zhi Fei Fu.{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ma4UAQAAMAAJ&q=%22blessing+in+disguise%22+idiom |title =汉英双解经典成语故事 / Chinese-English Classical Idiom Stories|isbn = 9787801034205|last1 = Cheng|first1 = Menghui.|year = 2005|place=Beijing}} In 1900, The British Medical Journal commented on a number of cases where an assault or injury inadvertently led to the curing of a medical condition, describing them as surgical blessings in disguise.{{Cite journal|date=28 April 1900|title=A Surgical Blessing In Disguise|journal=The British Medical Journal|volume=1|issue=2052|pages=1047|issn=0007-1447|jstor=20264409}}

In the modern era, the phrase has been used as the title of multiple books, such as the novel of that name by Danielle Steel (2019),{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LyaEDwAAQBAJ&q=blessing+in+disguise|title=Blessing In Disguise|last=Steel|first=Danielle.|date=2019|publisher=Pan Macmillan|isbn=9781509877812|language=en}} songs by Michael McDonald,[https://genius.com/Michael-mcdonald-blessing-in-disguise-lyrics Blessing In Disguise.] Genius. Retrieved 24 August 2019. Michael Martin Murphy{{Citation|title=Michael Martin Murphey – Blessings In Disguise|url=https://genius.com/Michael-martin-murphey-blessings-in-disguise-lyrics|language=en|access-date=2019-12-14}} and others, and as the name of a charity.[https://www.blessingsindisguise.co.uk/ Blessing in Disguise.] Retrieved 24 August 2019.

Related phrases are "count your blessings", meaning to be grateful for the good things that have happened to you and not spending time regretting the bad,{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/count-your-blessings|title=Count your blessings |website=Cambridge Dictionary|language=en-US|access-date=September 13, 2019}} and a "mixed blessing", meaning something that has good and bad aspects.{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/mixed-blessing |title=Mixed blessing |website=Cambridge Dictionary|language=en-US|access-date=August 24, 2019}}

The phrase "burnt toast theory" refers to a mindset that suggests that minor time-consuming inconveniences, such as burning and remaking toast before traveling to work, could avoid greater harm or lead to other positive outcomes. In January 2024, the phrase was popularized on TikTok in relation to the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident that month: the two seats next to a door plug that blew out of the plane were unoccupied, supposedly because those passengers missed their flight. However, those seats were not actually assigned.{{Cite news |last=Torres |first=Monica |date=2024-01-18 |title=Could The Viral 'Burnt Toast Theory' Explain Why Bad Things Happen To You? |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/burnt-toast-theory-explained_l_65a6c9cce4b038181f076a8f |access-date=2024-07-30 |work=HuffPost |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329011954/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/burnt-toast-theory-explained_l_65a6c9cce4b038181f076a8f |url-status=live }}

• Is the glass half empty or half full?
• Silver lining
• Stoicism

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• {{commons category inline|Blessing in disguise}}
• {{Wiktionary inline|blessing in disguise}}

Category:English-language idioms