Why do we say "It is an ill wind that blows nobody good"?

Meaning:

One person's misfortune is often another's good luck

Background:

The British have lots of sayings drawn from the sea, and in particular, the navy. In the days of sail, a battle could be won or lost on a change of wind direction.

An early reference is found in John Heywood's 1546 book of proverbs (An yll wynde that blowth no man to good, men say). But this early version doesn't have the twist found in current usage - that something that causes harm to one person/group is probably benefiting someone else (such as an El Nino year that can bring much needed rain to some parts of the world, but catastrophic floods or droughts to other parts).

It is possible that Shakespeare was the first to use it in this way when he included the phrase in his 1591 play Henry VI.

Henry's son replies to his father:

Ill blows the wind that profits nobody.
This man, whom hand to hand I slew in fight,
May be possessed with some store of crowns;
And I, that haply take them from him now,
May yet ere night yield both my life and them
To some man else, as this dead man doth me.

When drawing the winner for this Wordplay, we accepted variations such as "It's an ill wind that blows no good."

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