English has an idiom: "Slow and steady wins the race." It is used to describe situations where slow, steady progress towards a goal is better than a rushed attempt to achieve things all at once (and I believe it comes from the fable of The Tortoise and the Hare). Is there an equivalent idiom in Spanish?
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5 Answers
Here goes a bunch:
"Vísteme despacio, que tengo prisa" (quote from Ferdinand VII)
Something like: Dress me slowly, for I am in a hurry.
"Las prisas son malas consejeras"
Something like: Hurries are bad advisers.
"Sin prisa pero sin pausa"
Slowly but steadily
"Quien va piano va lontano"
(this sounds pretty Italian-borrowed to me, but it means Who goes slowly goes/gets far)
"Poco a poco, hila la vieja el copo".
Little by little the old lady spins the woll yarn (related to spinning a yarn; more information in Wikipedia)
Probably the closest one to the idiom you mention is this one (also based on the Aesop fable):
"Conejo rapido no llega lejos. Tortuga llega segura."
The fast rabbit doesn't reach far. The turtle arrives safe. Although I must say that I have never heard this in Spain.
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5In Mexico is very common "Lento pero seguro" - "Slowly but surely". Commented May 8, 2012 at 14:36
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1That one is Italian, indeed. The original is piano, piano si va lontano. The one @SergioRomero mentions in his comment is also used in Spain, I've heard it quite a few times.– GorpikCommented Nov 18, 2014 at 9:39
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Quien va piano va lontanois Italian not Spanish. The majority of the others I have never heard them myself.Lento pero segurois the best choice at least in Spain. Commented Nov 18, 2014 at 20:34 -
The one I heard was, "poco a poco se llega lejos". That's almost like one of the ones you posted. Commented Nov 18, 2014 at 21:13
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I think that "sin prisa pero sin pausa" is in fact said inversely: "sin pausa pero sin prisa", but with exactly the same meaning.– RobertoCommented Nov 20, 2014 at 7:11
Lento pero seguro conveys a very similar meaning to Slow and steady wins the race. because it is used to express that slowness is a good thing and gets you to your targets.
Example:
- estas tardando mucho, ¿no?
- yo voy lento pero seguro
That is widely accepted and recognized (at least in Spain).
Another mexican one:
Más vale paso que dure que trote que canse.
Loosely translated to
A pace that lasts is better than a trot that tires.
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1Esta merece ser la respuesta aceptada, por lejos. Las otras son mucho más de manual y mucho menos creativas– tacCommented Oct 1, 2023 at 14:34
In Chile is very common the expression
despacito por las piedras.
It is an evolution of the phrase
Irse despacio por las piedras [go slowly through the stones]
but usually the verb is omitted and the diminutive "despacito" is used instead "despacio".
For example, this dialog:
-Me gusta mucho esa mina. [I like that girl]
-¡Qué bien! Pero despacito por las piedras... [Well, but take it slow]
I've heard it as
Despacio con calma gana la carrera. (Slow with calmness wins the race)