An occasion lost cannot be redeemed.
Meaning: Missed opportunities vanish permanently; time's passing erases chances that won't return.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- An old cat laps as much as a young kitten. — Age doesn't diminish appetite or basic needs; elderly and young require similar sustenanc…
- As the old cock crows so crows the young. — Children naturally imitate their parents' behavior, words, and habits rather than followi…
- An old dog barks not in vain. — Experience earns credibility; when veterans finally speak, their warnings deserve serious…
- An old sack wanteth much patching. — Neglected problems compound over time, requiring increasingly costly repairs to restore w…
- The mouse that hath but one hole is easily taken. — A creature relying on single escape route faces inevitable capture when discovered.
- In an orderly house all is soon ready. — Organized systems and preventive habits eliminate the friction and delay that chaos creat…
From our idioms
- like water off a duck's back — Having no effect on someone.
- look down one's nose at someone or something — To be snobbish about someone or something.
- make one's blood boil — To cause someone to become extremely angry.