you can’t win them all

Y

you can’t win them all

Meaning

• indicates the reality that it is not possible to always succeed
• failure is inevitable and is bound to happen
• implies that it is impossible to always keep succeeding without disappointment

Example Sentences

1.  To be very frank, I am very disappointed that they did not give me the post of  the manager as I feel I truly deserved it after 5 years of work experience. Oh well, you can’t win them all you see.
2. Obviously, I would have loved to win the national trophy for the school this year as well but you just can’t win them all.
3. It would have been amazing to bag that offer for a trip to Paris you know but you can’t have it all.
4. They published your review in the magazine but did not publish your interview? Well, you can’t win them all I guess.
5. I expected to come first this semester as I had been scoring really well in all the exams but I guess you can’t win them all.
6. The guy I was dating took me to meet his family and they all loved me except for his dog Tobias who kept barking at me the whole evening. I suppose you can’t win them all.

Origin

The idiom is mostly used in its informal form of ‘you can’t win em all’. The exact origin of this idiom is not well known.