A phenomenon always arises from the interaction of complementaries. If you want something look for the complement that will elicit it.
More Traditional Proverbs:
A cold and wet June spoils the rest of the year.Traditional
A drop of honey catches more flies than a hogshead of vinegar.
Traditional
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
Traditional
He's a vegetable.
Traditional
It's not the work that's hard, it's the discipline.
Traditional
Set a thief to catch a thief.
Traditional