ProverbWisdomEnglish origin1546

Haste makes waste

Meaning: Rushing leads to mistakes and wasted effort.

Example: “Check the address twice; haste makes waste.”

Origin: John Heywood's 1546 collection gives "Haste maketh waste," and the idea that rushing causes mistakes costing more time than they save was already a commonplace in Chaucer's day. The near-rhyme has kept it alive, along with a longer relative: "Haste makes waste, and waste makes want, and want makes strife between the good man and his wife."

Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, and 7 more languages

  • French: Qui se hâte trop se fourvoie (literally: Whoever hurries too much goes astray)
  • Spanish: Las prisas son malas consejeras (literally: Haste is a bad advisor)
  • Japanese: 急いては事を仕損じる (Seite wa koto wo shisonjiru) (literally: If you hurry, you'll mess things up)
  • German: Eile mit Weile (literally: Hurry with leisure)
  • Italian: La gatta frettolosa fece i gattini ciechi (literally: The hasty cat gave birth to blind kittens)
  • Portuguese: A pressa é inimiga da perfeição (literally: Haste is the enemy of perfection)
  • Dutch: Haastige spoed is zelden goed (literally: Hasty speed is seldom good)
  • Russian: Поспешишь — людей насмешишь (Pospeshish' — lyudey nasmeshish') (literally: Hurry and you'll make people laugh)
  • Polish: Co nagle, to po diable (literally: What's done in haste is the devil's work)
  • Chinese: 欲速则不达 (Yù sù zé bù dá) (literally: Want speed and you won't arrive)
  • Arabic: العجلة من الشيطان (Al-ʿajala min ash-shayṭān) (literally: Haste is from the devil)
  • Turkish: Acele işe şeytan karışır (literally: The devil meddles in hasty work)

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