ProverbWisdom
Japanese origin
Japanese origin備えあれば憂いなし (Sonae areba urei nashi)
Meaning: If you are prepared, you have nothing to worry about.
Literally: If prepared, there is no worry
Example: “地震に備えて水と食料を用意しておこう。備えあれば憂いなしだ。” — Let's keep water and food ready in case of an earthquake: better safe than sorry.
Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and 4 more languages
English: Better safe than sorry
French: Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir (literally: Better to prevent than to cure)
Spanish: Más vale prevenir que lamentar (literally: Better to prevent than to regret)
German: Vorsicht ist besser als Nachsicht (literally: Caution is better than hindsight)
Italian: La prudenza non è mai troppa (literally: You can never have too much caution)
Portuguese: Mais vale prevenir do que remediar (literally: Better to prevent than to cure)
Dutch: Voorzichtigheid is de moeder van de porseleinkast (literally: Caution is the mother of the china cabinet)
Russian: Бережёного Бог бережёт (Berezhyonogo Bog berezhyot) (literally: God protects those who protect themselves)
Polish: Strzeżonego Pan Bóg strzeże (literally: God guards those who guard themselves)
Origin: Usually traced to the Chinese classic Book of Documents, in the form 有備無患; the same line is also quoted in the Zuo Zhuan. It is a favorite slogan of Japanese disaster-preparedness campaigns.
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