The early worm gets eaten
Meaning: Being first isn't always advantageous — sometimes it's risky.
Origin: A joke reversal of "the early bird catches the worm," seen from the worm's side. Chambers's Journal noted in 1887 that "the early worm gets eaten," and the humor magazine Puck printed "The early bird may get the worm, but the early worm gets eaten" in 1897.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, and Japanese
- French: Il faut savoir attendre son heure (literally: One must know how to wait for one's hour)
- Spanish: No por mucho madrugar amanece más temprano (literally: Getting up early doesn't make dawn come sooner)
- Japanese: 出る杭は打たれる (Deru kui wa utareru) (literally: The nail that sticks out gets hammered down)
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater — Don't discard something valuable while getting rid of unwanted things.
- Rob Peter to pay Paul — Solve one problem by creating another.
- You can't have your cake and eat it too — You can't enjoy two mutually exclusive things simultaneously.
- Better safe than sorry — It's wiser to be cautious than to take unnecessary risks.
- A rose by any other name would smell as sweet — The essence of something doesn't depend on what it's called.
- Kill two birds with one stone — Accomplish two tasks with a single action.
From our compliments & insults
- Tu as un cœur d'or — You are genuinely kind and generous.
- Tu déchires — You're awesome — you totally rock.
- Eres un sol — You're a lovely, warm-hearted person.