ProverbWisdom
English origin14th c.
English origin14th c.Look before you leap
Meaning: Think carefully before acting.
Example: “Read the lease twice before signing; look before you leap.”
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Dutch, and 4 more languages
French: Prudence est mère de sûreté (literally: Prudence is the mother of safety)
Spanish: Antes que te cases, mira lo que haces (literally: Before you marry, look at what you're doing)
Japanese: 石橋を叩いて渡る (Ishibashi wo tataite wataru) (literally: Cross the stone bridge after tapping it)
German: Erst wägen, dann wagen (literally: First weigh, then dare)
Dutch: Bezint eer gij begint (literally: Reflect before you begin)
Russian: Семь раз отмерь, один раз отрежь (Sem' raz otmer', odin raz otrezh') (literally: Measure seven times, cut once)
Chinese: 三思而行 (Sān sī ér xíng) (literally: Think three times, then act)
Korean: 돌다리도 두들겨 보고 건너라 (Doldarido dudeulgyeo bogo geonneora) (literally: Tap even a stone bridge before you cross)
Arabic: في التأني السلامة وفي العجلة الندامة (Fī t-taʾannī s-salāma wa-fī l-ʿajala n-nadāma) (literally: In patience lies safety, in haste regret)
Origin: One of the oldest sayings in English: a version meaning "first look, and afterward leap" is recorded in the mid-14th century, and John Heywood gives "look ere ye leap" in his 1546 collection. It is not Aesop's, but English editions attached it as the moral of his fable of the fox and the goat, in which the goat jumps into a well without a thought for how to get out again.
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