ProverbWisdomPolish origin

Mądry Polak po szkodzie

Meaning: People only learn to be careful after something has gone wrong.

Literally: A Pole is wise after the damage

Example: “Dopiero po włamaniu założyli alarm. Mądry Polak po szkodzie.” — They only installed an alarm after the break-in: hindsight is 20/20.

Equivalents in English, French, Japanese, German, Italian, and 2 more languages

  • English: Hindsight is 20/20
  • French: Avec des si, on mettrait Paris en bouteille (literally: With 'ifs,' you could put Paris in a bottle)
  • Japanese: 下種の後知恵 (Gesu no atojie) (literally: A lowly person's wisdom after the fact)
  • German: Hinterher ist man immer klüger (literally: Afterwards one is always wiser)
  • Italian: Del senno di poi son piene le fosse (literally: The graves are full of wisdom after the fact)
  • Russian: Русский человек задним умом крепок (Russkiy chelovek zadnim umom krepok) (literally: A Russian is strong in hindsight)
  • Chinese: 事后诸葛亮 (Shìhòu Zhūgě Liàng) (literally: A Zhuge Liang after the event)

Origin: Jan Kochanowski quotes it as a saying in his song on the devastation of Podolia by a Tatar raid in the 1570s, and warns that Poles may end up foolish both before and after the damage.

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