more haste, less speed

English

Etymology

The word speed is used here in the dated sense of “success, luck” (compare Godspeed), though probably with a pun on the sense “velocity”. Compare the same in Low German je gröter Hast, je minder Spood.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Proverb

more haste, less speed

1. When one is in a hurry, one often ends up having less success and completing a task more slowly.

Translations

when one is in a hurry, one often ends up completing a task more slowly

• Arabic:

  Libyan Arabic: استعجل تبطى تاكل خبطة

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 欲速則不達 / 欲速则不达 (zh) (yùsù zé bùdá)

• Czech: spěchej pomalu
• Danish: hastværk er lastværk (da)
• Finnish: ei ole hoppu hyväksi, eikä kiire kunniaksi, hiljaa hyvä tulee
• French: il ne faut pas confondre vitesse et précipitation
• Galician: canta máis présa, máis vagar
• Georgian: მოჩქარეს მოუგვიანდესო (močkares mougviandeso)
• German: Eile mit Weile
• Greek: σπεύδε βραδέως (el) (spévde vradéos)
• Hungarian: lassan járj, tovább érsz (hu)
• Irish: dá mhéad í an deifir is ea is mó an mhoill
• Italian: presto e bene raro avviene
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hastverk er lastverk

  Nynorsk: hastverk er lastverk

• Polish: gdy się człowiek śpieszy, to się diabeł cieszy, co nagle, to po diable (pl), śpiesz się powoli (pl)
• Romanian: graba strică treaba
• Russian: ти́ше е́дешь, да́льше бу́дешь (ru) (tíše jédešʹ, dálʹše búdešʹ, literally “the slower you ride, the farther you'll get”), поспеши́шь — люде́й насме́шишь (pospešíšʹ — ljudéj nasméšišʹ, literally “if you do it in a hurry, you’ll make people laugh”)
• Spanish: vísteme despacio, que tengo prisa
• Swahili: haraka haraka haina baraka
• Tagalog: ang maglakad nang matulin, kung matinik ay malalim

See also

• haste makes waste
• slow and steady wins the race

References

• George Latimer Apperson, Martin Manser, Dictionary of Proverbs, Wordsworth Editions, 2006, p. 394 [1]