Slow but steady wins the race.
AesopRead
A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy. Let a man be one thing or the other, and we then know how to meet him.
Interpretation
What this quote means
It's better to know where someone stands than to deal with uncertainty in relationships.
This quote by Aesop highlights the importance of having clarity in our relationships, particularly friendships. A friend who is doubtful and uncertain can cause more harm and confusion than an outright enemy, as knowing someone's true stance allows us to navigate our interactions with them more effectively and prepare for the potential outcomes.
Themes
FriendshipTrustCertaintyRelationshipsLoyalty
In practice
Example use cases
During a friendship seminar, you might quote this to emphasize the importance of honesty in relationships.
More from Aesop
All quotes βWe often despise what is most useful to us.
AesopRead
The haft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagle's own Lures. We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction.
AesopRead
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
AesopRead
If you are a friend, why do you bite me so hard? If an enemy, why do you fawn on me?
AesopRead
The unhappy derive comfort from the misfortunes of others.
AesopRead
Similar quotes
There are few things in which we deceive ourselves more than in the esteem we profess to entertain for our firends. It is little better than a piece of quackery. The truth is, we think of them as we please, that is, as they please or displease us.
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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.
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A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud. I am arrived at last in the presence of a man so real and equal, that I may drop even those undermost garments of dissimulation, courtesy, and second thought, which men never put off, and may deal with him with the simplicity and wholeness with which one chemical atom meets another.
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Only solitary men know the full joys of friendship. Others have their family; but to a solitary and an exile, his friends are everything.
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You cannot get me to be disloyal to a friend. You just can't do it. Loyalty is a part of what I live by. I didn't say I was going to be loyal to my friend because he was right. I'm going to be loyal to my friend because he's my friend.
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I could take away all the gold medals and everything, that was the biggest thing that sport has given me. Belonging into a community, but also being proud of who I was.
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