Meaning
An important or complex piece of work takes a long time and cannot be rushed. It is said to encourage patience, usually to someone frustrated by slow progress on something worthwhile, and it can also excuse delays without denying that the goal is achievable. Mildly proverbial and usually kind in tone; often used to console someone or to soften a request for patience. Regional use: General English.
Origin
This is an imported proverb rather than a home-grown one. The earliest known version is medieval French - 'Rome ne fu pas faite toute en un jour' - in the poem collection Li Proverbe au Vilain, dated around 1190 by The Phrase Finder. English printers picked it up from Erasmus: Richard Taverner's 1545 translation of his proverbs renders it 'Rome was not buylt in one day', and John Heywood included it in his 1546 gathering of English proverbs as 'Rome was not bylt on a daie', adding that it stood 'tyll it was fynysht'. Queen Elizabeth I quoted it in a 1564 Cambridge address, showing it was already familiar. The jokey modern extension 'Rome wasn't built in a day, but it burnt in one' has no early attestation; The Phrase Finder notes it is a contemporary play on the proverb, sometimes wrongly credited to Heywood.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- Rome was not built in a day
- Rome wasn't built in a day, but it burnt in one
- Rome wasn't built in one day
Usage Examples
- The cathedral took two centuries to finish, and the guides like to remind visitors that Rome wasn't built in a day.
- You have been learning Japanese for three weeks - Rome wasn't built in a day, so don't expect to read novels yet.
- Rome wasn't built in a day, the coach told the young squad, but every training session adds another brick.