While the grass grows the steed starves.
Meaning: Delay in acting allows opportunities to slip away while waiting for ideal conditions that may never arrive.
Origin: A horse left to wait for grass to grow will starve before it is fed. The proverb is recorded around 1350, and Shakespeare's Hamlet quotes its start — "While the grass grows" — then breaks off, calling it "something musty." Help that comes too slowly is no help.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Grass grows not upon the highway. — Constant traffic wears away growth; neglected paths flourish while heavily used routes re…
- There would be no great ones if there were no little. — Greatness requires a foundation of ordinary people and humble tasks to build upon and ele…
- A great ship needs deep waters. — Significant ambitions require sufficient resources and circumstances to achieve their ful…
- A green wound is soon healed. — Fresh injuries recover quickly; delay in treatment makes wounds harder to mend.
- A green winter makes a fat churchyard. — Mild winters allow diseases to flourish unchecked, increasing mortality through the follo…
- An unbidden guest must bring his own stool with him. — Uninvited visitors cannot expect hospitality and must accommodate themselves without burd…
From our tongue twisters
- El cielo está enladrillado, ¿quién lo desenladrillará? — A brutal test of the rolled 'r' and 'l'.
- Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid. — A 'bl' / 'br' brain-twister.
- Trentatré trentini entrarono a Trento tutti e trentatré trotterellando. — An unbroken stampede of 'tr' and 't'.