Don't reinvent the wheel
Meaning: Don't waste effort on solved problems.
Origin: An American business metaphor from the mid-20th century: the wheel has already been invented, so there's no point doing the work again. One early example, a 1956 report on how researchers and executives use information, speaks of avoiding "re-inventing the wheel."
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: Ne réinvente pas la roue (literally: Don't reinvent the wheel)
- Spanish: No hay que inventar la rueda (literally: You don't need to invent the wheel)
- Japanese: 車輪の再発明は無用 (Sharin no saihatsumei wa muyō) (literally: Reinventing the wheel is useless)
- German: Man muss das Rad nicht neu erfinden (literally: One need not invent the wheel anew)
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Don't put the cart before the horse — Do things in the correct order.
- Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do — Sometimes unconventional paths lead to correct outcomes.
- Great minds think alike — Intelligent people often reach the same conclusions.
- Cross that bridge when you come to it — Deal with problems only when they arise.
- All roads lead to Rome — There are many ways to reach the same goal.
- You're never too old to learn — Learning is a lifelong process.