Its means that something that seems for a while hard or difficult can actually turn out to be positive. Even when things seem hopeless, better times can come. A difficult time is like a cloud, but it will pass and we will see the sun again.

In this idiom the cloud is negative and dark and you don't want it to be there, but the edge of the cloud is bright and pretty and positive (picture a lone dark cloud with the sun directly behind it so that the edges are lit up). The saying is meant to remind us that even when bad things happen there is still something positive that you can focus on instead. Maybe you have to be in the hospital, and that is sad, but all your friends and family come to visit you and you see how much love they have for you! Every cloud has a silver lining.

I wouldn’t recommend using it. People will know what the expression means but almost nobody will know what a “silver lining” is.

It's an I'll wind that blows nobody any good ... perhaps !

*What does this proverb mean*