From the practice of mending a small tear in cloth when first noticed ("in time"), before it becomes a larger one requiring more stitches.
a stitch in time saves nine
A little effort expended sooner to fix a small problem prevents it from becoming a larger problem requiring more effort to fix later. a timely effort can prevent larger problems
Chinese:
Mandarin: 小洞不補，大洞吃苦 ／ 小洞不补，大洞吃苦 ( xiǎo dòng bù bǔ, dà dòng chīkǔ ) , 防微杜漸 ／ 防微杜渐 (zh) ( fángwēidùjiàn ) , 事半功倍 (zh) ( shìbàngōngbèi ) (half the work, twice the effect )
Danish: udsæt ikke til i morgen, det du kan gøre i dag
Dutch: werk op tijd maakt welbereid
Finnish: parempi oja tukkia kuin joki
French: un point fait à temps en épargne cent mieux vaut prévenir que guérir (fr)
German: was du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf morgen (de)
Greek: κάλλιο γαϊδουρόδενε παρά γαϊδουρογύρευε (el) ( kállio gaïdouródene pará gaïdourogýreve )
Hungarian: a rest kétszer fárad (hu)
Italian: meglio prevenire che curare prevenire è meglio che curare è meglio prevenire che curare
Japanese: 今日の一針明日の十針 ( kyō no hitohari asu no tohari )
Korean: 호미로 막을 것을 가래로 막는다 (ko) ( homiro mageul geoseul garaero mangneunda , literally “ what can be stopped up with a short-handled hoe must be done with a shovel later ” )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: utsett ikke til i morgen, det du kan gjøre i dag (no)
Polish: lepiej zapobiegać niż leczyć (pl)
Portuguese: é melhor prevenir do que remediar
Russian: оди́н стежо́к, сде́ланный во́время, сто́ит девяти́ ( odín stežók, sdélannyj vóvremja, stóit devjatí )
Serbo-Croatian: ono što možeš učiniti danas, ne ostavljaj za sutra
Spanish: más vale prevenir que curar
Swedish: bättre att stämma i bäcken än i ån ( ellipsis ) stämma i bäcken (sv)
Turkish: bir mıh nal kurtarır, bir nal bir at kurtarır