Doing nothing is doing ill.
Meaning: Idleness itself becomes harmful; inaction allows problems to fester and opportunities to vanish.
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 Challenge
- One hand will not clasp. — A solitary person lacks the mutual support and cooperation that partnership naturally pro…
- Ready money will away. — Coins in hand disappear quickly without deliberate saving or spending discipline.
- Sorrow will pay no debt. — Grief alone cannot settle what you owe; action and payment remain necessary despite emoti…
- An ill stake standeth longest. — A crooked post, being harder to pull straight, remains embedded longer than an honest one.
- Wilful waste makes woeful want. — Deliberate squandering of resources today inevitably leads to painful scarcity tomorrow.
- Will without reason is blind. — Unchecked determination without rational thought leads to destructive or futile actions.
From our idioms
- L'esprit de l'escalier — The perfect retort that arrives only after you have left.
- Tomber dans l'escarcelle de quelqu'un — To end up in someone's possession, often without their working for it.
- À bon escient — Advisedly; with proper judgment about when to do it.