Flowers never emit so sweet and strong a fragrance as before a storm. When a storm approaches thee, be as fragrant as a sweet-smelling flower.

The saying uses a natural observation—flowers seeming most fragrant just before a storm—as a moral emblem. “Storm” functions as a metaphor for impending hardship, conflict, or crisis. The counsel is not to become bitter or defensive when trouble nears, but to intensify one’s best qualities: kindness, patience, generosity, or moral steadiness—like a flower giving its richest scent at the moment the air turns threatening. The image also implies that adversity can draw out latent virtues and that one’s character is most powerfully “noticed” (like fragrance) when circumstances are tense. In effect, it recommends meeting pressure with grace rather than panic.