Better than never is late - The Canon's Yeoman's Tale
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
जब जाति तब सवेरे
Whenever you wake up, that’s your morning
Don't close the stable door after the horse has bolted
Ukitaka kwenda haraka, nenda peke yako, ukitaka kwenda mbali, nenda na wenzako
Rome ne fu[t] pas faite toute en un jour
Kutoka kitabu cha Li Proverbe au Vilain kilichochapishwa takriban mwaka wa 1190
Kifaransa cha kisasa: Rome ne s'est pas faite en un jour
Maana yake: Roma haikujengwa kwa siku moja
冰凍三尺,非一日之寒
Mita ya barafu sio kwa sababu ya siku moja ya baridi
Chan ann leis a’ chiad bhuille a thuiteas a’ chraobh
Sio pigo la kwanza linaloangusha mti
Picha: Shukran kwa Zamani Project waliounda ziara ya mtandaoni ya Kilwa Kisiwani!
Matone madogo ya maji,
Chembe kidogo za mchanga,
hutengeneza bahari kubwa
Na ardhi ya kupendeza
Vivyo hivyo zile dakika ndogo,
ingawa ni ndogo,
hutengeneza enzi za milele.
Chose promise, chose due
A thing promised is a thing owed.
Долг платежом красен, а займы отдачею.
The beauty of a debt is its payment
Alternative translation: A debt is beautiful when it is paid off, and loans when repaid.
Pacta sunt servanda
Agreements must be kept (an important principle of international law)
口說無憑
Spoken words are no guarantee.
Your word is your bond