proverb · Words worth keeping
Business before pleasure.
Business before pleasure.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying places business before pleasure. It asks that a responsibility or task be attended to before recreation.
What the words are saying
Before sets an order, not a complete ranking of life’s values. A useful application can concern an agreed obligation while recognising rest and enjoyment as legitimate needs. It should not require constant work or treat every leisure activity as a failure of duty.
Everyday example
Someone completes an urgent agreed task before a planned break while keeping the break in the schedule.
When to use it
Use it to discuss ordering commitments and leisure in context.
What it does not mean
Work need not always outrank rest, wellbeing or other responsibilities.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 170; PDF page 28
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.