ProverbWisdomChinese origin

欲速则不达 (Yù sù zé bù dá)

Meaning: Trying to go too fast makes you fail.

Literally: Want speed and you won't arrive

Example: “学外语不能着急,欲速则不达。” — You can't rush learning a language: more haste, less speed.

Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, and 7 more languages

  • English: Haste makes waste
  • French: Qui se hâte trop se fourvoie (literally: Whoever hurries too much goes astray)
  • Spanish: Las prisas son malas consejeras (literally: Haste is a bad advisor)
  • Japanese: 急いては事を仕損じる (Seite wa koto wo shisonjiru) (literally: If you hurry, you'll mess things up)
  • German: Eile mit Weile (literally: Hurry with leisure)
  • Italian: La gatta frettolosa fece i gattini ciechi (literally: The hasty cat gave birth to blind kittens)
  • Portuguese: A pressa é inimiga da perfeição (literally: Haste is the enemy of perfection)
  • Dutch: Haastige spoed is zelden goed (literally: Hasty speed is seldom good)
  • Russian: Поспешишь — людей насмешишь (Pospeshish' — lyudey nasmeshish') (literally: Hurry and you'll make people laugh)
  • Polish: Co nagle, to po diable (literally: What's done in haste is the devil's work)
  • Arabic: العجلة من الشيطان (Al-ʿajala min ash-shayṭān) (literally: Haste is from the devil)
  • Turkish: Acele işe şeytan karışır (literally: The devil meddles in hasty work)

Origin: A saying of Confucius in the Analects (13.17), advising a disciple who had become a governor: do not seek speed, do not look at small gains.

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