You are now browsing in English. Switch to Swahili
In Swahili: "Sasa unavinjari kwa Kiingereza. Rudi kwa Kiswahili"
You need to login to view profiles OR to update your profile

Have an account? Login

Log in
Forgot your password?
Didn't receive your confirmation email?

Create a new account

Posts / Proverbs Proverb of the day
New announcements
Discussions
Proverbs

Better late than never

Join
or login
to VOTE for Proverb of the Month
Votes
0
Updated 4mo ago
by
Brighid McCarthy
View this proverb in Swahili
Bora kuchelewa kuliko kukosa kabisa
One day a renown businessman wanted to hire an assistant. He received many resumes, but only two candidates met his high standards: Alice and Bob. To help him decide, he called both, and they each agreed to come in for an interview the following morning. "9 AM. Look sharp and don't be late." The manager warned.

The next morning Alice woke up early, donned her best suit and got to the village bus station at 8:00am. "Better safe than sorry," she thought.  On the way to town, the front of the minibus began to smoke. The driver pulled over in the bush and told all the passengers to get out. Just then it started to rain. Alice tried to wave down each bus that passed, but they were all full, so she had to walk on foot. 9am came and went, but Alice was still miles from town and the rain was getting harder. "I must keep going." she thought, "Better late than never."

Meanwhile in town, Bob woke up in his apartment, and saw the sun was high in the sky. He sat up suddenly. "Oh no! Why did my alarm fail?" He looked at the clock on his wall: 9:00 am. "Forget it. Even if I leave right now, I'll still be late, and they'll never hire someone who is late." So Bob, feeling depressed, went back to sleep.

At 10:30, Alice finally made it to the office and knocked on the door, her neatly pressed suit now dripping and muddy. The businessman answered.
"I warned you to be on time, yet you are over an hour late, how can you expect me to give you this job?"
Then Alice explained all that had happened.
"I have learned a lot about you from this story, Alice. When you have a purpose in mind, you persist despite and obstacles and don't give up, even when it seems too late. In fact, you are the first to arrive today. The other candidate did not show up at all. The job is yours."

Great achievements and inventions often begin with a lot of failures, but in the long run, persistence and learning are rewarded.  People make a lot of mistakes (to err is human), but life is very patient with us, giving us lots of chances to learn from them and try again, as long as we don't give up.

Some say the proverb "Better late than never" comes from The Canterbury Tales, written by Chaucer around the 1390s.
Better than never is late -  The Canon's Yeoman's Tale  
Others trace the proverb to an even earlier origin, in Livy's History of Rome, written around 20 BC:
There was no end to it; tribunes of the commons and patricians could not subsist in the same state; either the one order or the other office must be abolished; and that a stop should be put to presumption and temerity rather late than never. - Livy, History of Rome, Book 4

A similar saying in English is "It's never too late." 
Here's a proverb that relates to the same principle in Hindi:
जब जाति तब सवेरे
Whenever you wake up, that’s your morning

And here's an English proverb that often means the opposite of this one:
Don't close the stable door after the horse has bolted

Details Imagine you woke up late for a job interview. What would you do? Would you scramble to get dressed and make it to the meeting as quickly as possible? Or would you think "Forget it, it's not worth going at all now"? Next time you think "It's too late" try telling yourself "Better late than never." For example, this Proverb of the Day was posted late, but at least you're reading it now - Thanks!
Sources
The Canterbury Tales, The Canon's Yeoman's Tale
History of Rome, Book 4

Better late than never (Wiktionary)
Close the stable door after the horse has bolted (Wiktionary)  
Loading...
Login to view and post comments
Other proverbs
Chema chajiuza, kibaya chajitembeza
Tofautisha na linganisha matunda na pipi. Matunda yameiva, yana ladha halisi, yamejaa virutubisho na vitamini -- kweli yanajiuza yenyewe.

Kwa upande mwingine, mfuko wa pipi unalia “nisikilize!”, kwa rangi kali, na kauli mbiu zinazolipuka *BOOM*! Lakini chini au nyuma ya kinachong'aa, tunajua kwa kkweli pipi ni sukari tupu tu yenye rangi na ladha bandia ya matunda.

Kama nyani, binadamu hupenda matunda kwa sababu yanatupatia nishati pamoja na lishe na virutubisho. Pipi hutoa nishati bila lishe halisi (Kalori tupu). Pipi huiga tunda. Usidanganywe!

Kizuri hakihitaji kutangazwa, maana ubora hujieleza yenyewe. Kama wachumi wasemavyo, “demand” inazidi “supply”. Matangazo yanaweza kutuahidi furaha, uzuri, upendo, mali au heshima. Lakini jiulize, je, inawezekana kwa kweli? Coca-Cola sio dawa ya upendo.

Methali hii inatukumbusha thamani ya ubora wa kweli kuliko muonekeano maridadi. Methali hii hutumika wakati msemaji ana mashaka juu ya mtu anayejisifu au kujivunia kupita kiasi.

Tuwe kama kikapu cha matunda: mwazi na mwema. Sifa hizi zitawavuta wengine kwako — angalau wao wanaoelewa kwamba “Chema chajiuza, kibaya chajitembeza!”

Methali zinazohusiana:
Vingaravyo vyote si dhahabu

Don’t judge ya book by it’s cover
Usihukumu kitabu kwa kava yake (muonekeno)

Appearances are deceptive
Maonekano hudanganya
 
高嶺の花
Hana yori dango
Chakula [ni bora] kuliko maua
...
Updated 4mo ago
by
Brighid McCarthy
A good thing sells itself, a bad one advertises (Chema chajiuza, kibaya chajitembeza)
Compare this simple, humble basket of fruit with a bag of lollipops. The fruit is ripe, juicy, packed full of vitamins -- it just sells itself. The lollipops, on the other hand, scream for our attention with explosive slogans and neon colors. But underneath the shiny packaging, it's really just plain sugar with some food coloring and artificial flavors.

Like other primates, humans find fruit attractive because it gives us energy and nutrition. Candy gives us energy, but it doesn't give us real nutrition. It just does a very clever job pretending to be fruit. Don't fall for it!

A good thing doesn't need to advertise, because quality speaks for itself. As the economists would say, demand exceeds supply.  Many advertisements seems to promise us happiness, beauty, love, wealth or respect. But ask yourself, does the ad promise more than the product can really deliver? Coca-Cola isn't a love potion.

This proverb reminds us of the enduring value of true quality and competence over flashy appearances. It's often used to express skepticism about a person who brags or praises themselves excessively.

We should all strive to be more like the basket of fruit: simple, authentic and good. These qualities will draw other people to you — at least the kind of people who understand that “chema chajiuza, kibaya chajitembeza”

Related proverbs:
Don't judge a book by its cover.
Appearances are deceiving.
All that glitters is not gold 
 高嶺の花  Hana yori dango - Dumplings over flowers

...
Updated 4mo ago
by
Brighid McCarthy
2
Little by little fills up the jar
Large tasks in life need to tackled in small steps, day by day. This proverb comes from Swahili:
Haba na haba hujaza kibaba
Little by little fills up the jar

Can you think of other similar proverbs that encourage the same way of thinking? 

This saying reminds be of a poem called "Little Things" by Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney:
Little drops of water,
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land.
     
Thus the little minutes,
Humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages
Of eternity. 
Julia Carney composed this poem in 1845 as a student in class -- and she was given only 10 minutes to write it!
...
Updated 4mo ago
by
Brighid McCarthy
What goes around comes around
This proverb means that we often get treated the same way we treat others. It is usually negatively, as a warning, or when a person who acted immorally gets their comeuppance. It could also be used as a promise of blessings to those who do good.  A third possible meaning is that Often compared to the Hindu doctrine of karma, the exact origin of the proverb is uncertain, but it seems to have emerged in the US in middle of the last century.

Related proverbs and quotes:
Shakespeare 
We still have judgment here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice
To our own lips.  (Macbeth Act I, Scene 7) 
Bible:
As you sow, so shall you reap (Galatians 6:7)
Chinese:
善有善報，惡有惡報
Good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil.
German
Wie man in den Wald hineinruft, so schallt es heraus
What you shout into the forest, will echo out again

...
Updated 4mo ago
by
Brighid McCarthy
1