A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE
ANSARI MOHAMMAD HUSAIN
MAHARASHTRA
“Never leave till
tomorrow which you can do today”
-Benjamin Franklin
An oft-repeated proverb “A stitch
in time saves nine” is used in our conversation more like
all proverbs to stimulate people doing "Never leave till tomorrow which
you can do today". It passes on from one hand to another like a current
coin, it means all evils should be nipped in the bud and in return, much future
trouble should be avoided.
This phrase can be stated more apparently a “One stitch in time saves
nine stitches,” it means; patching up a tear on
time would only require one stitch instead
of ten stitches essential later if
the tear becomes untidy and worsens. Many
people shorten the phrase to say just “a stitch in
time.” Other similar proverbs include “an ounce
of prevention is worth a pound of cure” and “there’s no time like the present.”
Historians believe it first
appeared in print in 1732 in Thomas Fuller’s Gnomologia,
Adagies and Proverbs, Wise
Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British.
Of course, if Fuller considered this saying to be a proverb in 1732, it was probably
around for many years before that. Its
meaning is quite simple: Don’t procrastinate! Procrastination means
to delay or put off doing something until a later time.
People use the phrase to express in different languages such as
Urdu, Hindi, Marathi, and English and so on that it’s better to spend a little
time and effort to deal with a problem right now than waiting until later, when
it may get worse and take longer to deal with. Many believe procrastination that creates more work
in the long run. While no one knows for sure who came up with this saying
significance stitches or what or the
number nine have, many people believe it was started by mothers weary of mending their children’s
clothing.
True meaning appears of this
proverb by considering a few instances from day to day life. A bad habit is acquired
by child early in life and taken not any care. It gradually brings about many
other evil addictions in him. Although, it can be nipped in the bud in very
beginning with care and he will become back on the right track at once.
Likewise, he starts telling lies and taken not any care, the process of telling
lies rooted firmly in him, then it will become tougher for his Parents to keep
him from that evil. Inattention to small details, and the neglect of small
beginnings, has marred many a promising career. The hundreds of precious lives
are being lost to the H1N1 influenza, described by the medical experts as just
another, preventable and curable form of seasonal flu.
These years, over 2500people are being treated in the hospitals and
homes. Rajasthan, Telangana, Gujarat, and Maharashtra are bearing the brunt of
pandemic. In Rajasthan 85 people died as higher in the country and last year
937 cases of swine flu as the influenza is commonly known. In 2012, there were
5044 reported cases which 405 lives, while there were 525 cases which claimed
405 deaths in 2013. The pandemic has
been a regular occurrence since 2009.
When this situation was reviewed by the Union Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare to train all doctors and paramedical staff in public health
institutions in the State and also National level.
The education, information, communication, campaigns to create
awareness among the masses to protect themselves from the infection but it is
too late taken steps because the simple flu becomes deadly as patients come in
for the treatment when things go out of hand
You find a little hole in your shirt, so small that you neglect as
silly matter. Later, you find it has become a big tear, and it takes you more
than nine stitches with needle and thread, time and trouble, to repair it. If
you had mended it at once, you could have done it in a minute or so and with
one or two stitches. So the proverb means, take things in time and you will save
yourself a lot of trouble.
As the old saying teaches us, a kingdom may be lost by neglecting
to replace a nail in a horse’s shoe; “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;
for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; for want of a horse, the rider was
lost; for want of a rider, the battle was lost; the kingdom was lost.”
It can be applied, also to morals and character. No one gets into a
bad habit all at once. All habits begin with small and apparently innocent
indulgences. For example, drunkenness, a drunkard begins by taking a glass of
wine or whisky now and then, and thinks nothing of it. But the appetite for
drink grows until it becomes a craving; and before he know where he is, he has
become a slave to drink. As a Japanese proverb say’ “First the man takes a
drink; then the drink takes a drink; the drink takes the man.”The
only safe way is to avoid the first glass.
This same principle applies
as regards my lessons. I was thinking that I would pass examination easily only
by studying through one month. But much difficulty happened to me to tackle
writing the examination, that wasn’t as effective as it would have been. Even
if, I passed it, I relegated from my fourth rank to twenty fifth ranks at last.
The phrase of my advising friends, Junaid & Nadeem “A stitch in time
saves nine” occurred to me with complete meaning plus interpretation as well as
“Never leave till tomorrow which you can do today”. It is an undoubted truth
that the less one has to do, the less one finds time to do it." While we
are idling, time slips by and opportunities are wasted
The point is illustrated by the well-known story of a farmer who rode
to a fair to sell his toys; he got a good price for them, and left for home, being
his bag full of money. During the journey, he sojourned at an inn. “There is a
nail out of one of the shoes” said the stable boy. "It’s better for you to
wait and to have it put on”.
No, no cried the farmer, I
can’t wait for a while, for a nail. He ascended on the horse and became of the
town, but he had hardly gone a few miles, because horse lost a shoe. The stable
boy said that “Sir, please give me your horse to put on shoe by the blacksmith”.
“No” said the farmer, no problem, I am already late. I have a few
miles to go, my horse can take me there without a shoe and he mounted on it
again and rode on, after a few miles, however, the horse began to limp, at last
it became quite lame. Therefore, he dismounted and began to lead it; he walked
but was a still far away for home.
Ultimately, the night appeared. The farmer forcibly rest under a
huge banyan tree. Suddenly, some robbers appeared, there with gunpoint on him
and demanded from him whatever he had. In spite of hapless, he resisted for a
while but the robbers seized him, money bag forcibly and left him, bruised. The
farmer was sorry. He grieved over his foolish mistake. "Alas! He
said," "for want of a horse-shoe nail, I have lost all my money.”
“Never leave till tomorrow which
you can do today” was the Motto of Benjamin Franklin. The less one has
to do, the less one finds time to do it." While people idle, time lapses
by and opportunities are wasted and many opportunists become lack-opportunists,
thus; we should make up our mind to act promptly to strike the iron while it is
hot. We should become well-prepared for all things all time. Therefore Dickens,
Micawbar borrowed much money and spent it randomly because of luck, in the
expectation of something happened tomorrow but he got ruined. The golden opportunities
lapse by and what was easier became extremely difficult.
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