waste not, want not

English

Pronunciation

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Proverb

waste not, want not

1. (idiomatic) If one is not wasteful then one will not be in need.
   • 1872, [Thomas Hardy], “VIII. They Dance More Wildly”, in Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School, volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, →OCLC, part I, page 114:

     Besides these, there were some little pleasures in the shape of helping her to vegetable she didn't want, and when it had nearly alighted on her plate, taking it across for his own use, on the plea of waste not, want not.

   • 1910, Edith Nesbit, chapter 2, in The Magic City:

     “They take the cocoa-nuts to the town kitchen,” said the captain, “to be made into cocoa-nut ice for the army breakfast; waste not want not, you know.”

   • 2006 July 9, Richard Corrigan, “Fish tales”, in Sunday Times, UK, retrieved 5 July 2008:

     I'm a believer in “waste not, want not”, and we roast our leftover bread, finely sliced and brushed with olive oil, in a low oven.

Coordinate terms

• a penny saved is a penny earned

Translations

If one is not wasteful then one will not be in need

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 儉以防匱 / 俭以防匮 (zh) (jiǎnyǐfángkuì)

• Finnish: säästäväisyys on hyve
• French: tout est bon dans le cochon (fr)
• German: spare in der Zeit, so hast du in der Not
• Italian: il risparmio è il miglior guadagno
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
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• Polish: nie marnuj, a nie będziesz w potrzebie
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