A Stitch in Time Saves Nine
The literal meaning of this saying is that a
timely stitch to a rent in our garment will mend it quickly and easily. But if
we delay mending it, the rent will be
bigger and then to mend it with a stitch will take much more time.
Procrastination in dealing with that rent, or an attitude of dealing with that
tomorrow, will worsen it, will make it bigger and bigger every day, and it will
take much more time and effort than was necessary if we took it up immediately.
Metaphorically, it means that if any problem in our life starts off, we should
try to address the problem immediately. But if we put off or procrastinate, the
problem will grow bigger and more and more complex. A timely attempt to solve
the problem in the very
beginning might have taken a very small amount of time
and effort; the problem might have been solved easily. But if we put it off for
tomorrow, the tomorrow might never come, and many days would pass. The nature
of things, especially of bad things, is to grow worse and worse every day. Even
if we put off dealing with a problem, the problem would not remain static; it
would grow bigger and bigger, and more and more complex. And solving it, when
it has already grown unwieldy in size and complexity, would require much more
time, energy, and effort than
would have been necessary, had we taken it up in
the very beginning. Or, even it is possible that the problem cannot be solved at all; it will
then engulf our life, and we may be ruined'.
As the proverb is true of the individual, it is also true of a nation.
If any evil thing creeps into it, it should be removed immediately. If we fail
to do that, it will develop into a festering sore and eat into the vitals of
our people. The proverb is a call to immediate action in case of any
problem. It is a call for the individual
as well as for the nation.
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