Quotations and Literature Forum

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HASTE MAKES WASTE - "The notion of haste being counterproductive can be traced back at least to the apocryphal 'Book of Wisdom' (c. 190 B.C.) by Jesus Ben Sirach, which contained the line, 'There is one that toileth and laboureth, and maketh haste, and is so much the more behind.' Centuries later, Chaucer wrote in 'Canterbury Tales' (c. 1387), 'In wikked haste is not profit.'.A longer version of the saying was quoted in John Ray's 'A Collection of English Proverbs' (1678): 'Haste makes waste, and waste makes want, and want makes strife between the goodman and his wife.'.an amusing counterpart in a Chinese proverb on the futility of hurrying - 'A hasty man drinks his tea with a fork.'." From "Wise Words and Wives' Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Olde and New" by Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner (Avon Books, New York, 1993).