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The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.

Anonymous saying

PhilosophyProverbs

The story behind the card

It is often presented as an ancient Chinese proverb, but Quote Investigator, a website that traces the origins of quotations, found no Chinese source. The earliest close match it found is in a Cleveland newspaper in 1967, where a city councilman, George W. White, used it with “thirty years ago” and did not claim it as his own. The “Chinese proverb” label appears only in 1985. Whoever coined it, the sense is practical: the best moment may have passed, but starting today still beats waiting.

Türkçe oku
Ağaç dikmenin en iyi zamanı yirmi yıl önceydi. İkinci en iyi zamanı ise şimdi.
Anonim söz

Söz çoğu zaman eski bir Çin atasözü diye sunulur; ama alıntıların kökenini araştıran Quote Investigator sitesi hiçbir Çince kaynak bulamamıştır. Sitenin bulduğu en eski yakın örnek, 1967'de Cleveland'da çıkan bir gazetededir: Belediye meclisi üyesi George W. White sözü “otuz yıl önce” diyerek kullanmış ve kendisine mal etmemiştir. “Çin atasözü” etiketi ise ancak 1985'te ortaya çıkar. Sözü kim bulmuş olursa olsun anlamı açıktır: En iyi zaman geçmiş olabilir, ama bugün başlamak beklemekten iyidir. Türkçede de benzer bir teselliyle “Geç olsun da güç olmasın” denir.

Sources and further reading

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