ProverbPerseveranceFrench originc. 1190

Rome wasn't built in a day

Meaning: Great things take time and patience.

Example: “You won't be fluent after one lesson; Rome wasn't built in a day.”

Origin: The medieval French collection Li Proverbe au Vilain (c. 1190) has "Rome ne fu pas faite toute en un jour." John Heywood's 1546 collection brought it into English. Great achievements take time.

Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, and 4 more languages

  • French: Rome ne s'est pas faite en un jour (literally: Rome was not made in a day)
  • Spanish: Roma no se construyó en un día (literally: Rome was not built in a day)
  • Japanese: ローマは一日にして成らず (Rōma wa ichinichi ni shite narazu) (literally: Rome was not built in one day)
  • German: Rom wurde nicht an einem Tag erbaut (literally: Rome was not built in one day)
  • Italian: Roma non fu fatta in un giorno (literally: Rome was not made in a day)
  • Portuguese: Roma e Pavia não se fizeram num dia (literally: Rome and Pavia weren't made in a day)
  • Dutch: Keulen en Aken zijn niet op één dag gebouwd (literally: Cologne and Aachen weren't built in one day)
  • Russian: Москва не сразу строилась (Moskva ne srazu stroilas') (literally: Moscow wasn't built all at once)
  • Polish: Nie od razu Kraków zbudowano (literally: Kraków wasn't built all at once)

On the map

Great things take time

The same idea in 15 versions, colored by the picture each one uses. Each country shows the version in its main language.

World map: rome (English, French, Spanish (Spain), Italian, German, Portuguese (Portugal), Japanese, Hungarian, Finnish, Danish); another city (Dutch, Polish, Russian); no city at all (Chinese, Korean).

Download the full map with every saying (PNG)See all world maps

5 more languages on the map

  • Hungarian Róma sem egy nap alatt épült“Rome wasn't built in a day either”Source: Wiktionary; 5 perc angol (English-Hungarian learning site)
  • Finnish Ei Roomaakaan päivässä rakennettu“Rome wasn't built in a day either”Source: Wiktionary; ProZ translators' forum
  • Danish Rom blev ikke bygget på en dag“Rome wasn't built in a day”Source: Wiktionary; Memrise Danish phrasebook
  • Chinese 冰冻三尺，非一日之寒 (Bīng dòng sān chǐ, fēi yī rì zhī hán)“Three feet of ice don't come from one cold day”Source: China Daily (language page); Our China Story; Wiktionary
  • Korean 첫술에 배부르랴 (Cheotsure baebureurya)“Can the first spoonful fill you up?”Source: National Institute of Korean Language (korean.go.kr); YugaWiki

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