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  • He who hesitates is lost
    He who hesitates is lost
    A person who spends too much time deliberating about what to do loses the chance to act altogether.
  • he who hesitates is lost
    he who hesitates is lost
    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.”

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.


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.”


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

I've always said, "He who hesitates is lost."

From Time Magazine Archive

But it was too late to stop, for the old adage was extremely appropriate, "He who hesitates is lost."

From T. Haviland Hicks Senior by Elderdice, J. Raymond

He who hesitates is lost, and this is doubly true of the book-collector.

From The Book-Hunter at Home by Allan, P. B. M.

There is an old saying that "He who hesitates is lost."

From Frank Merriwell's Chums by Standish, Burt L.

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

In a battle he who hesitates is lost, and life is the sharpest of conflicts.

From What Shall I Be? A Chat With Young People by Cassilly, Francis Bernard

It is a true saying that he who hesitates is lost.

From The Heart of the Range by White, William Patterson

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

From The Book of Life by Sinclair, Upton

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