Chi dorme non piglia pesci

Meaning: You snooze, you lose.

Language: Italian

Literally: He who sleeps doesn't catch fish

Category: Animals

Origin: Traces to the Latin comedy playwright Plautus, whose 3rd–2nd century BC play Rudens (The Rope) has a fisherman named Gripus declare, in essence, that whoever sleeps willingly does so without profit and to their own detriment — spoken as Gripus tries to prove to himself and his master that he is a genuinely hardworking, alert man who wastes no time. The proverb, in its now-standard fishing-specific form, draws on the everyday practical reality of the trade: a fisherman who dozed off, whether from exhaustion or carelessness, would miss the exact moment a fish took the bait, precisely the kind of narrow window that rewards constant attentiveness and punishes anyone who lets their guard down.