He that pays last never pays twice.
Meaning: Delaying payment until creditors forget their claims is the debtor's strategy for permanent escape from obligation.
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 Perseverance
- A penny in my purse will bid me drink when all my friends I have will not. — Money alone ensures hospitality where friendship fails, revealing commerce's reliability…
- He that will not stoop for a pin, shall never be worth a point. — Neglecting small savings and modest gains through pride ensures poverty and failure.
- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. — Relentless labor without leisure deadens the mind and spirit, diminishing one's vitality…
- When poverty comes in at the door, friendship leaps out of the window. — Financial hardship exposes fair-weather friends who abandon you when material benefit dis…
- Never sound the trumpet of your own praise. — Self-promotion undermines credibility; let others recognize your worth through actions, n…
- Procrastination is the thief of time. — Delaying tasks gradually steals away your hours until nothing remains to complete them.