Meaning & Analysis
It is better to have foresight or good judgment before acting than to gain wisdom only after a mistake has been made.
Insights
Superiority of Foresight
Highlights the practical and moral value of anticipating consequences in advance, rather than learning only in hindsight after errors occur.
Cost of Regret
Suggests that wisdom gained after the fact—through regret or correction—cannot undo past mistakes, making forethought significantly more valuable.
Historical Symbolism
Drawing on Erasmus’s 'Malo accepto stultus sapit' ('A fool grows wise after harm is done'), the proverb expresses a time-honored truth: preventive wisdom is preferable to remedial cleverness. Early modern England valued prudence and foresight as marks of good governance and personal conduct.
Literary and Cultural Resonance
Related to proverbs like 'Second thoughts are best' and echoed throughout European wisdom literature, this adage warns against impulsiveness and the false security of learning only after failure.
Psychological Dimensions
Reveals a universal human tendency to rationalize or reflect only after experiencing loss or error. The proverb advocates for cultivating awareness and prudence to avoid unnecessary suffering.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
Opposes 'forewit' (foresight) and 'afterwit' (hindsight), creating a memorable and instructive contrast between preemptive wisdom and regretful learning.
Numerical Comparison
The use of 'one...worth two' quantifies the proverb's wisdom, dramatizing the superiority of foresight over hindsight.
Paradox
Presents the paradox that a single act of foresight can outweigh multiple acts of wisdom acquired too late.
Transcription
Quotations
Malo accepto stultus sapit.
Yet is one good forewyt worth two after wits.
[As in Eras.] Better is one fore thought than two after.
One fore-wit is worth 2 after: it is not good to beware when the act is done.
Cross References
Annotations
- The englyshe man sayeth.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.