better late than never
English
Etymology
Perhaps a calque of Latin potiusque sero quam numquam from the 4th book[1] of Ab Urbe condita (History of Rome) by Titus Livius, around 27 BC.
Adverb
- It's better to do something late, than to never do it at all.
- c. 27 BCE, Livy, Ab Urbe Condita [From the Founding of the City], published 1996:
- (please add the primary text of this quote)
- Their insolence and recklessness must be opposed, and better late than never.
- 1989 June 16, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis; Ivan Reitman, director, Ghostbusters II, spoken by Dock Supervisor (Cheech Marin):
- [after seeing the ghost of the Titanic arrive in New York Harbor] Well, better late than never.
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Translations
it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
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See also
References
- Butterfield, Bruce J. (1996), “Livy's History of Rome”, in (please provide the title of the work) (HTML, in English), Marquette University (mu.edu), archived from the original on 2012-09-15
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