better late than never

English

Etymology

Perhaps a calque of Latin potius sero quam numquam from the 4th book of Ab Urbe condita (History of Rome) by Titus Livius, around 27 BC.

Adverb

better late than never

1. It is 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 quotation)

     Their insolence and recklessness must be opposed, and better late than never.

   • 1989 June 16, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, directed by Ivan Reitman, 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.

Translations

it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all

• Albanian: më mirë vonë se kurrë
• Arabic: أَن يَأْتِي مُتَأَخِّرًا خَيْر مِن أَلَّا يَأْتِي أَبَدًا (ʔan yaʔtī mutaʔaḵḵiran ḵayr min ʔallā yaʔtī ʔabadan)
• Armenian: լավ է ուշ, քան երբեք (lav ē uš, kʻan erbekʻ)
• Basque: hobe da berandu sekula baino
• Breton: gwelloc'h diwezhat eget gwech ebet
• Bulgarian: по-добре късно отколкото никога (po-dobre kǎsno otkolkoto nikoga)
• Catalan: més val tard que no mai
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 遲做總比不做好／迟做总比不做好 (chí zuò zǒng bǐ bù zuò hǎo), 亡羊補牢／亡羊补牢 (zh) (wángyángbǔláo)

• Czech: lepší pozdě než nikdy
• Danish: bedre sent end aldrig
• Dutch: beter laat dan nooit
• Esperanto: pli bone malfrue ol neniam (eo)
• Estonian: parem hilja kui mitte kunagi
• Finnish: parempi myöhään kuin ei milloinkaan
• French: mieux vaut tard que jamais (fr)
• Georgian: სჯობს გვიან ვიდრე არასდროს (sǯobs gvian vidre arasdros)
• German: besser spät als nie
• Greek: κάλλιο αργά παρά ποτέ (kállio argá pará poté)
• Hebrew: עדיף מאוחר מאשר לעולם לא
• Hindi: जब जाति तब सवेरे (jab jāti tab savere)
• Hungarian: jobb későn, mint soha (hu)
• Irish: is fearr déanaí ná ródhéanaí, is fearr go deireanach ná go brách, is fearr go mall ná go brách
• Italian: meglio tardi che mai
• Japanese: 遅くてもやらないよりまし (おそくてもやらないよりまし, osokutemo yaranai yori mashi)
• Kazakh: ештен кеш жақсы (eşten keş jaqsy)
• Korean: 늦더라도 안 하는 것보다는 낫다 (neutdeo-rado an haneun geot-boda-neun natda)
• Latin: potius sero quam numquam, potiusque sero quam numquam
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: кызыт огыл гын, лучо вара (kyzyt ogyl gyn, lučo vara)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bedre sent enn aldri, bedre seint enn aldri

  Nynorsk: betre seint enn aldri

• Persian: دیر آید و شیر آید (dir âyad o šir âyad)
• Polish: lepiej późno niż wcale (pl), lepiej późno niż później
• Portuguese: antes tarde do que nunca (pt), mais vale tarde do que nunca
• Romanian: mai bine mai târziu decât niciodată
• Russian: лу́чше по́здно, чем никогда́ (lúčše pózdno, čem nikogdá)
• Slovene: bolje pozno kot nikoli
• Spanish: más vale tarde que nunca (es), nunca es tarde si la dicha es buena
• Swedish: bättre sent än aldrig (sv)
• Turkish: geç olsun da güç olmasın
• Turkmen: hiçden giç ýagşy
• Ukrainian: кра́ще пі́зно, ніж ніко́ли (krášče pízno, niž nikóly)
• Urdu: دیر آئے درست آئے (der ā'ye durust ā'ye)
• Vietnamese: thà trễ còn hơn không, có còn hơn không
• Welsh: gwell rhywbryd na byth

See also

• better safe than sorry