Explaining "Hindsight is always twenty-twenty"

What does it mean?

The phrase "Hindsight is always twenty-twenty" means that it's easy to understand what you should have done after something has happened. In other words, people have perfect clarity about past events, but cannot predict the future.

Tone

Origin

The expression combines "hindsight", which refers to the understanding of a situation only after it has occurred, with "twenty-twenty", a term used to describe normal visual acuity (perfect vision) measured at a distance of 20 feet. The phrase suggests that looking back, events seem clear and obvious, just like someone with 20/20 vision can see clearly.