To lose patience is to lose the battle
Meaning: Losing your composure under pressure ensures defeat; staying calm is essential to success.
Origin: Credited to Mahatma Gandhi in quotation collections, including a 1968 anthology of sayings by Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore, but the speech or article it comes from hasn't been identified. It fits his teaching that nonviolent resistance required long patience.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, and Japanese
- French: Perdre patience, c'est perdre la bataille (literally: To lose patience is to lose the battle)
- Spanish: Perder la paciencia es perder la batalla (literally: To lose patience is to lose the battle)
- Japanese: 忍耐を失うことは戦いを失うことだ (Nintai wo ushinau koto wa tatakai wo ushinau koto da) (literally: To lose patience is to lose the battle)
More proverbs about Perseverance
- Nothing is impossible to a willing heart — With true determination and commitment, any obstacle can be overcome.
- A dumb priest never got a parish — Silence and incompetence forfeit advancement; those unable to demonstrate ability through…
- April showers bring May flowers — (by extension, figurative) A period of discomfort or hardship can provide the basis for a…
- A woman's work is never done — From rise of morn to set of sun Woman's work is never done.
- Go hard or go home — Commit fully to your efforts or abandon the attempt entirely; half-measures waste time an…
- Idle hands make work for the Devil — Unoccupied minds drift toward mischief; productive engagement prevents moral corruption.
From our tongue twisters
- Chandu ke chacha ne Chandu ki chachi ko chandi ki chamach se chatni chatayi. — A 'ch' symphony from start to finish — Hindi's palatal affricate in every single word.
- Şu çam sakızı çan sakızı olmuş, çan sakızı şan sakızı olmuş. — A 'ş/ç/şan/çan' duel — Turkish's two close sibilants at war with each other.
- Sex laxar i en laxask. — A short 'x/lax/ks' crunch — Swedish's 'x' sounds like 'ks', which doubles the trap.