He who hesitates is lost

Cultural  

1. A person who spends too much time deliberating about what to do loses the chance to act altogether.

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he who hesitates is lost Idioms  

1. One who cannot come to a decision will suffer for it, as in I couldn't make up my mind, and now the offer has expired—he who hesitates is lost. Although the idea is undoubtedly older, the present wording is a misquotation or an adaptation from Joseph Addison's play Cato (1712): “The woman that deliberates is lost.”

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Example Sentences

My predicament illustrates how "he who hesitates is lost."

From Time Magazine Archive

But he who hesitates is lost, and before Luke had made up his mind whether to object or not, he was already part way upstairs—there was no elevator—following the bellboy, who carried his luggage.

From Struggling Upward, or Luke Larkin's Luck by Alger, Horatio

"But he who hesitates is lost," said I. "This is your chance, don't let it slip."

From A Fool and His Money by McCutcheon, George Barr

Non-dependability is fatal, as many a commander would not know how to act, and in war, he who hesitates is lost.

From The Sequel What the Great War will mean to Australia by Taylor, George A. (George Augustine)

Here in very truth is a case where "he who hesitates is lost!"

From The Book of Life by Sinclair, Upton