When you say ‘Don’t Count Your Chickens before They Hatch’
you mean that it’s important to avoid any hastiness when evaluating the assets
you have available.
Example of use: “I’m going to go to Hawaii when my bonus comes in.” Answer: “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch!”
The origin of the expression ‘don’t count your chickens before they hatch’ is a direct reference to the fact that eggs sometimes fail to hatch, reducing the number of live chicks in a clutch. The first printed example is seen in a 1570 work by Thomas Howell, New Sonnets and Pretty Pamphlets: “Count not they chickens that unhatched be, weigh words as wind til though find certainty.”