Dicho español · Spanish proverb

«Más vale paso que dure y no trote que canse.»

Word for word

Better a step that lasts than a trot that tires.

What it really means

The closest English equivalent: Slow and steady wins the race.

Encourages a steady, sustainable pace over bursts of effort that lead to burnout. Common when advising patience in long projects.

Hear it in a sentence

Más vale paso que dure y no trote que canse, así que ve despacio con ese proyecto.

Slow and steady wins the race, so take that project slowly.

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.

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