He who hesitates is lost
Meaning: Indecision leads to missed opportunities.
Origin: From Joseph Addison's tragedy Cato (1713), where the line is "The woman that deliberates is lost," spoken of a young woman wavering over a suitor. Proverbial use turned the woman into "he" and the romance into any decision left too long.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: L'hésitation perd la bataille (literally: Hesitation loses the battle)
- Spanish: Quien vacila, pierde (literally: He who hesitates, loses)
- Japanese: 迷う者は敗れる (Mayou mono wa yabureru) (literally: Those who hesitate are defeated)
- German: Frisch gewagt ist halb gewonnen (literally: Boldly ventured is half won)
More proverbs about Challenge
- A gem cannot be polished without friction — Excellence and greatness are only achieved through struggle and hardship.
- The darkest hour is just before the dawn — Situations often worsen right before they improve dramatically.
- It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness — Taking constructive action is more effective than complaining about a problem.
- When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion — Collective effort by many can overcome even the most powerful opposition.
- It is not the size of the dog in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the dog — Determination and spirit matter far more than physical size or advantage.
- The obstacle is the path — Difficulties are not barriers to our goals but the very means by which we achieve them.
From our tongue twisters
- 八百标兵奔北坡，炮兵并排北边跑。(Bābǎi biāobīng bēn běipō, pàobīng bìngpái běibian pǎo.) — A pure b-versus-p drill, separating Mandarin's unaspirated b from its aspirated p.
- O peito do pé de Pedro é preto. — Five 'p' words in a row, with the vowels shifting underneath each one.
- A aranha arranha a rã. A rã arranha a aranha. — Contrasts the soft single r of aranha against the hard rolled rr of arranha — one letter…