English has an unusually rich stock of proverbs about work, and they are not interchangeable: each one is aimed at a different moment. “Strike while the iron is hot” pushes you to move now, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” asks you to wait, and “Haste makes waste” warns you that moving fast was the mistake. Said at the wrong moment, any of them sounds glib. The three levels here follow the shape of a job rather than the alphabet — starting it, staying with it, finishing it properly — because the useful question is never what a proverb means but when it is the right thing to say.
12 proverbs about acting early and seizing the moment — each with its meaning and an example sentence.
12 proverbs for the long middle of a job, when the first enthusiasm has worn off.
12 proverbs about care, craft and the cost of rushing — each with its meaning and an example sentence.