half a loaf is better than none

half a loaf is better than none

English

Alternative forms

• half a loaf is better than no bread
• half a loaf is better than no loaf

Proverb

half a loaf is better than none

1. Something is better than nothing: some reward, achievement, result, etc. is preferable to none at all.
   • 1912, Fergus Hume, chapter 1, in A Son of Perdition:

     "I have the beginnings of genius," he finally decided, "that is, I can see for myself, but I cannot pass the vision on to others by production."

     "Half a loaf is better than none," said Miss Enistor soothingly.

   • 1914, Peter B. Kyne, chapter 16, in The Long Chance:

     "I'm a business man, and I tell you before you're half through with this fight, you'll come to the conclusion that half a loaf is better than none at all—particularly in the matter of extra large loaves. You'll come to me and compromise."

   • 1983 Feb. 10, Francis X. Clines, "Reagan's wish is no minimum wage for youths," New York Times (retrieved 6 March 2014):

     "There are some people," he said, "who would have you so stand on principle that if you don't get all that you've asked for from the legislature, why you jump off the cliff with the flag flying." Mr. Reagan said that "a half a loaf is better than none" and that unyielding critics had "misread" his tactics.

   • 2010 June 17, Michael Scherer, "The President's Spill Speech: The Target Audiences," Time (retrieved 6 March 2014):

     Audience: Green groups
     Obama's Pitch: Sometimes half a loaf is better than no loaf at all.

Synonyms

• something is better than nothing, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, beggars can't be choosers, don't look a gift horse in the mouth; see also Thesaurus:satisfactory

Translations

Translations

Czech: malé ryby taky ryby Finnish: parempi pyy pivossa kuin kymmenen oksalla, parempi vähän kuin ei mitään French: mieux que rien (fr), faute de grives, on mange des merles (fr) Polish: lepszy rydz niż nic (pl) Portuguese: melhor que nada Spanish: a falta de pan, buenas son tortas, a mucha hambre, no hay pan duro, a pan de quince días, hambre de tres semanas Thai: กำขี้ดีกว่ากำตด (th) (gam-kîi-dii-gwàa-gam-dtòt)

See also

• a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
• perfect is the enemy of good

References

• half a loaf is better than none at OneLook Dictionary Search