APAD: One swallow does not make a summer

Meaning:

Don't draw a premature conclusion based on a single fact

 

Background:

In Aesop's fable, a young man sees a swallow on a warm winter day. Thinking that

winter is over, he sells off his woolen coat, and with the money he's made he

goes to the bar and drinks. Unfortunately, in the days that follow the

temperature drops and the young man, shivering in the cold, realizes that one

swallow does not make a summer.

 

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On the other hand, people invoking the proverb can wait too long for mature

conclusions and miss the boat. It's about risk-control. One should watch out or

just skip it when risks are high, but otherwise shouldn't fear mistakes as pain,

in the right dosage, is a good teacher. Success and failures are but illusions.

Life is a continuous process of learning from (small) missteps.