Half a loaf is better than none

1. Something is better than nothing at all.

Idioms and Phrases

Something is better than nothing, even if it is less than one wanted. For example, He had asked for a new trumpet but got a used one—oh well, half a loaf is better than none . This expression, often shortened, was already a proverb in 1546, where it was explicitly put: “For better is half a loaf than no bread.”