proverb · Words worth keeping
Don’t fix it, If it aren’t broke.
Don’t fix it, If it aren’t broke.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying advises leaving a functioning thing alone instead of repairing it unnecessarily. It questions changes made without an identified problem.
What the words are saying
The source’s irregular grammar is retained, while the meaning concerns the purpose and cost of intervention. Working now does not prove that maintenance or improvement is pointless. A useful application checks actual performance, emerging needs and the reason for a proposed change rather than rejecting change automatically.
Everyday example
A team asks what problem a proposed alteration would solve before changing a reliable arrangement.
When to use it
Use it to examine whether a change has a justified purpose.
What it does not mean
A functioning system may still need maintenance or improvement; current operation is not proof of future adequacy.
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 817; PDF page 116
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.