Stitches

Who first used the saying a stitch in time saves nine?

Where does the saying "a stitch in time saves nine"come from? A guy I know told me it started with Ben Franklin, I think it was Bessie Ross or Sir Isaac Newton.

Public Comments

1. if a job needs doing it is better to do it now, because it will only get worse, like a hole in clothes that requires stitching
2. I believe Franklin is correct...It was part of his sayings in the Poor Richard's Almanac.
3. I looked it up on a few web pages, which mostly claimed it was Ben Franklin. If you like these kind of quotes, research Poor Richard's Almanac. There's a wikipedia link to it below:
4. Could have been the person who fashioned the Shroud of Turin or the mayor of Needlesville, Indiana.
5. It was an French proverb dating back to the early 1700's and seems to have been a sailing term. "A stitch in time saves nine." French Proverb This is a very old sailing term when burying someone at sea. 9 pounds of shot were used to weigh the body sack, then, when the sack was stitched closed, the last stitch was passed through a body part ... thus keeping the shroud and the body together. Otherwise, the 9 lbs of shot would be wasted Should the so called body 'awake' 9 pounds of shot was saved. "A stitch in time saves nine". If you deal with problems immediately, when they first appear, you will save yourself a lot of money and trouble after. This adage is listed in the 1732 Thomas Fuller's book of proverbs, and was first cited in the United States in the 1787 'Journal of Tour of North America in 1796-1791' by Francis Bally (1774-1844). The word 'nine' was introduced for assonance." From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman. http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/1/messages/2072.html I have read that the proverb was originally a distic and the word "nine" was used because of the rhyme. (English and American Proverbs. Tradotti commentati e illustrati, by Enrica Caimi) http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=386508