Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«El que espera, desespera.»
Word for word
He who waits, despairs.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: Waiting drives you crazy.
Used humorously or sympathetically when someone is tired of waiting for something. It acknowledges that waiting is frustrating.
Hear it in a sentence
Llevo tres horas en la sala de espera; el que espera, desespera.
I've been in the waiting room for three hours; he who waits, despairs.
Why learn dichos?
Proverbs like this one are everywhere in spoken Spanish — dropped mid-conversation, usually just the first half, with the rest left for you to complete. Recognizing them is one of the fastest ways to sound less like a textbook and follow real speech. Every Lingocito edition signs off with the dicho del día, so you meet one a day next to news written at your exact level.