Don't count your chickens before they hatch

A warning not to assume success or benefits before they're certain, urging caution against premature optimism that could lead to disappointment. It reflects a practical wisdom about life's unpredictability-plans can fail, outcomes can shift-using the fragile, uncertain nature of eggs as a metaphor.

This proverb traces back to Aesop's fable 'The Milkmaid and Her Pail' (circa 600 BCE), where a girl imagines profits from eggs not yet hatched, only to spill her milk dreaming. Translated into English by the 16th century, Thomas Howell's 1570 poem rendered it as 'count not thy chickens that unhatched be. ' The imagery of poultry farming-where eggs often failed to hatch-resonated in agrarian societies, and it stuck as a timeless caution. By the 19th century, it was a staple in English-speaking advice.