ProverbMorality
Greek originc. AD 200
Greek originc. AD 200The wheels of justice turn slowly
Meaning: Justice takes time but eventually arrives.
Origin: A modern form of an ancient saying. The Greek philosopher Sextus Empiricus (c. AD 200) quotes an older line of verse, already a popular saying, that the mills of the gods grind slowly, but grind fine, and Longfellow's translation of Friedrich von Logau made it famous in English: "Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small."
Equivalents in Spanish, Japanese, German, Russian, Polish, and Chinese
Spanish: La justicia tarda pero llega (literally: Justice is slow but it arrives)
Japanese: 天網恢恢疎にして漏らさず (Tenmō kaikai so ni shite morasazu) (literally: Heaven's net is wide, but nothing escapes it)
German: Gottes Mühlen mahlen langsam, aber sicher (literally: God's mills grind slowly, but surely)
Russian: Бог правду видит, да не скоро скажет (Bog pravdu vidit, da ne skoro skazhet) (literally: God sees the truth but doesn't tell it soon)
Polish: Pan Bóg nierychliwy, ale sprawiedliwy (literally: The Lord is slow, but just)
Chinese: 天网恢恢，疏而不漏 (Tiān wǎng huīhuī, shū ér bú lòu) (literally: Heaven's net is wide; loose, yet nothing slips through)
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