Haste makes waste

1. Acting too quickly may actually slow things down.

Idioms and Phrases

Proceeding too quickly can spoil an enterprise, as in Stop trying to rush through three things at once—haste makes waste, you know. This rhyming warning, first recorded in this exact form in 1575, was in John Ray's 1678 proverb collection, where the full text was: “Haste makes waste, and waste makes want, and want makes strife between the goodman and his wife.”

Example Sentences

“Every jurisdiction and prudential consideration calls for this court to allow the appeal to proceed first in the D.C. Circuit. ‘Haste makes waste’ is an old adage.

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“Every jurisdiction and prudential consideration calls for this Court to allow the appeal to proceed first in the D.C. Circuit. ‘Haste makes waste’ is an old adage.

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I know the pandemic upped demand but haste makes waste.

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Haste makes waste, especially in legislating, so Gov. John Bel Edwards reasonably vetoed a major bill on car insurance that had been amended too quickly in its rush to approval in the regular session of the Legislature.

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But haste makes waste, and measure twice and cut once is good to keep front of mind as we transition.

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