I first heard the whole sentence around 1980: “The fish stinks from the head down.”
Apparently, it’s an old Italian saying. It means you are responsible for everything that happens in your life.
Whether that’s right or wrong, you still have to take responsibility to alter things when they don’t suit you. Or you have to accept the situation that you don’t want, but you are responsible either way.
When I learned that, my world started to change; my thoughts went from “it’s not fair” to I have to think different. From “why should I” to Why can’t I or I don’t believe that it’s my fault, and just deal with it.
This saying teaches me that it really doesn’t stop as life is a series of challenges, so when you accept that, then it gets easier, and you can find your way through it.