more haste, less speed

English

Etymology

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

Proverb

more haste, less speed

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
Georgian: მოჩქარეს მოუგვიანდესო (močkares mougviandeso)
German: Eile mit Weile
Greek: σπεύδε βραδέως (el) (spévde vradéos)
Hungarian: lassan járj, tovább érsz (hu)
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 (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

References

George Latimer Apperson, Martin Manser, Dictionary of Proverbs, Wordsworth Editions, 2006, p. 394

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