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About this quote

What does it mean?
Do not assume success before it actually happens.
In plain terms
Wait until eggs hatch before counting chickens.
What can you take from it?
Avoid assuming outcomes too early.

Where it applies

  • investment
  • projects
  • expectations

Putting it to work

  • verify results
  • delay celebration

Questions to consider

  • When to plan?
  • Are expectations realistic?

Another view

Planning helps achieve outcomes.

More from James Thurber

  1. Once upon a sunny morning a man who sat in a breakfast nook looked up from his scrambled eggs to see a white unicorn with a golden horn quietly cropping the ro…

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  2. He who hesitates is sometimes saved.

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  3. You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.

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