ProverbWisdom
Latin origin
Latin originPrevention is better than cure.
Meaning: Stopping problems before they start costs less effort and suffering than fixing them afterward.
Origin: The idea is ancient, and the Dutch scholar Erasmus gave it in Latin as praestat cautela quam medela. Benjamin Franklin gave it its best-known American form in a 1735 letter on protecting towns from fire — "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" — writing about fire safety in Philadelphia.
Explore another collection: Idioms
Colorful expressions from dozens of languages, with their word-for-word translations.
- Rouler sur l'or To be enormously wealthy.
- Valoir son pesant d'or To be extremely valuable.
- Manu militari By force; with physical compulsion.
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