I found this proverb in a translated article:「如果做某事太慢，還不如乾脆停下來。」Does anyone know its original form? I have searched several Chinese proverb sites but couldn't find anything remotely related to it.
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2It doesn't ring any bell. It's somehow against Chinese culture. Chinese promotes the idea of "不怕慢，就怕站", which is opposite to the one you are looking for. – dan Sep 28 '21 at 07:32
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@dan I found the one you mentioned when doing online search. – joehua Sep 28 '21 at 08:08
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To me it seems to be a proverb about someone who does things so half heartedly that he might as well not do it at all. – Wayne Cheah Sep 28 '21 at 09:23
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Can you provide more context? If you see it in a translated article, presumably an English article, can you show us the English? – Betty Oct 31 '21 at 07:40
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@ Betty The original book, which I have no access to, is in English. What I have is the translated text in Chinese. The original Chinese proverb was translated into English by the author and was translated back to Chinese by the translator. The translator did not try to find out the proverb in its original form in Chinese. He simply translated it from English. The result is a proverb nobody has heard of. – joehua Oct 31 '21 at 11:50
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@joehua Still, some context would help. Please provide a few sentences before and after this proverb. – Betty Nov 01 '21 at 05:09
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@Betty 鋪設路面需要很多石頭，大的和小的都要。但是，有一些地段，特別是在泥濘山區的傣族地區，石頭是很難尋找的，有時要從遙遠的河床一塊一塊運來。那時幾乎每一個人都參加到搬運石頭的工作中來。無論是女人、老人和孩子，每一個人根據自己的能力來搬運。 中國有一句老話： 「如果做某事太慢，還不如乾脆停下來。」這對某些人和某些事可能是這樣。但是，我們搬運石頭的工作正好相反。你可以想像一下；在綿延數公里甚至數十公里的山間小道上，一條長長的搬運石頭的人流，好像是許多螞蟻在搬運食物或者是它們的卵。他們運動路綫就像是一條無限長的鎖鏈，這樣的活動在中國已經延續了好幾個世紀了，建築神廟和古老的城墻時都是這樣。 – joehua Nov 01 '21 at 09:05
3 Answers
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The context is immensely helpful. I managed to find the source. It is from the book The building of The Burma Road by Tan Pei-Ying (譚伯英《打通滇緬路》). I found the excerpt in its original English version from Google Books.
Apparently the person who translated it into Chinese made a mistake. The English is the opposite of the translated Chinese. It seems that @dan's comment is quite right.
There are also many Chinese proverbs with similar meaning, eg 绳锯木断, 水滴石穿, and 只要功夫深，铁杵磨成针.
Betty
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Wow! Thank you so much. I know the translator's Chinese isn't good. I didn't know his English is so bad. – joehua Nov 02 '21 at 07:22
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I wonder why Google Books doesn't let me preview the book. It let me preview other books but not this one. The page says "preview unavailable." I wonder how you did it. – joehua Nov 12 '21 at 05:10
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@joehua I don't know. I just searched and saw. It's possible that Google Books looks at the country/area/account preview history, etc. – Betty Nov 12 '21 at 07:53
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There is a saying: "一不做，二不休"(either don't do or don't stop).
It means "Either not doing it, or see it through to the end once you started"
In other words: "If you are not ready to finish what you started (too slow to finish), then don't do it (stop)"
Maybe it is the origin of this translated proverb
Tang Ho
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Thanks for the answer. When I see "一不做，二不休", the first thing that comes in my mind is kidnappers saying "一不做，二不休, we'll just kill the hostage." Evidently, I have watched too many crime movies. – joehua Sep 28 '21 at 07:20
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I really have not heard of such original proverb. But there is one really close, but it is a funny modern phrase, used in southern China or Hong Kong:
生意淡薄，不如賭博
it means
if the business (such as a mom and pop grocery store) is so low, we may as well play some mahjong or do a little bit of gambling
but this is the closest one I can think of, similar to what you wrote down as 如果做某事太慢，還不如乾脆停下來
There is another phrase that is close:
要嗎不做，做就要做到最好
It means
Either we don't do it, or we do it the best
but it has different connotation as your phrase because your phrase is suggesting stop when things are slow, while the phrase above is more like choosing between not doing it or doing it the best.
Stefanie Gauss
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