Hard TimesOne worth keeping
“Easy plowin' in wet dirt don't last—the ground hardens and the mule feels it first.”
Low rates made it easy for three years; this first raise's makin' the goin' a sight harder.
In the same vein
All Hard Times →A tough job that only gets done one painful foot at a time.
Fend for yourself, because nobody's coming to feed you.
Can't take from someone what they simply don't have.
Life alternates between hitting and being hit.
Everything's going wrong in both directions at once.
Fix it, stretch it, or learn to live with the hole.