if a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well
- if a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well
Job is sometimes used instead of thing.
1746 CHESTERFIELD Letter 9 Oct. (1932) III. 783 Care and application are necessary... In truth, whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
1910 G. K. CHESTERTON What’s Wrong with World IV. xiv. The elegant female, drooping her ringlets over her water-colours,..was maintaining the prime truth of woman, the universal mother: that if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.
1915 H. G. WELLS Bealby V. ‘If a thing’s worth doing at all,’ said the professor..‘it’s worth doing well.’
1980 Church Times 22 Feb. 12 ‘Things worth doing are worth doing well,’ was the motto at my first school.
1992 A. LAMBERT Rather English Marriage (1993) iii. 62 She’d never cared for dripdry,..she’d rather see everything starched and crisply ironed. ‘If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well’ was Gracie’s motto.
2002 Washington Times 11 Mar. B5 Children should learn the value of completing tasks properly. The old saying, ‘A job worth doing is worth doing well,’ holds true.
Proverbs new dictionary.
Look at other dictionaries:
thing — W1S1 [θıŋ] n ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(idea/action/feeling/fact)¦ 2¦(object)¦ 3¦(situation)¦ 4¦(nothing)¦ 5¦(person/animal)¦ 6¦(make a comment)¦ 7 the thing is 8 the last thing somebody wants/expects/needs etc 9 last thing … Dictionary of contemporary English
well — 1 /wel/ adverb comparative better superlative best 1 SATISFACTORILY in a successful or satisfactory way: Did you sleep well? | James reads well for his age. | fairly/moderately/pretty well (=quite well) | go well (=happen in the way you planned… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
thing — see if a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well all good things must come to an end all things are possible with God all things come to those who wait bad things come in threes the best things come in small packages … Proverbs new dictionary
well — noun see let well alone adjective see the devil was sick, the devil a saint would be; the devil was well, the devil a saint was he! adverb see well begun is half done all’s well that ends well he lives long who lives well … Proverbs new dictionary
worth — see the worth of a thing is what it will bring a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush a king’s chaff is worth more than other men’s corn an ounce of practice is worth a pound of precept a peck of March dust is worth a king’s ransom … Proverbs new dictionary
worth — 1 preposition 1 be worth to have a value in money: How much is the ring worth? | be worth 10/$500 etc: The picture is worth about two thousand pounds. | be worth a lot informal (=be worth a lot of money) | be worth nothing/not be worth anything:… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
worth — [[t]wɜ͟ː(r)θ[/t]] ♦♦ 1) v link worth amount If something is worth a particular amount of money, it can be sold for that amount or is considered to have that value. These books might be worth ₤80 or ₤90 or more to a collector... His mother… … English dictionary
Southwest High School (Fort Worth, Texas) — Infobox School name = Southwest High School imagesize = 175px motto = To provide supportive, academic, and cultural opportunities that result in creative, disciplined, and productive life long learners. established = 1967 type = Public principal … Wikipedia
Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, Thematic Index — absence absence makes the heart grow fonder he who is absent is always in the wrong the best of friends must part blue are the hills that are far away distance lends enchantment to the view out of sight, out of mind … Proverbs new dictionary
Nicomachean Ethics — Part of a series on Aristotle … Wikipedia
