English · Proverb Candidate

Better go about than fall into the ditch. (Ward, 1842 p. 11)

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

It's better to take action than risk a worse outcome by doing nothing

Literally: to go around is better than to fall into a ditch

Examples

I don't like the new policy, but better go about than fall into the ditch and lose my job

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “Better go about than fall into the ditch. (Ward, 1842 p. 11)” mean?

It's better to take action than risk a worse outcome by doing nothing Literally: to go around is better than to fall into a ditch

Is “Better go about than fall into the ditch. (Ward, 1842 p. 11)” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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