a watched pot never boils

proverb When you want something to happen, paying attention to it will make the wait feel much longer. Would you stop refreshing the page? The results will be posted soon enough, and a watched pot never boils! You should do something with your time instead of just sitting there waiting for the doctor to call. A watched pot never boils, after all. A: "Is the power ever going to come back on?" B: "Come on, let's go out for a walk—a watched pot never boils anyway."

watched pot never boils

Prov. Something you are waiting for will not happen while you are concentrating on it. Don't just sit there staring at the phone while you wait for Lucy to call. A watched pot never boils. I'd better do something besides look out the window waiting for Emily to drive up. A watched pot never boils.

watched pot never boils, a

Anxiety does not hasten matters. This homely piece of kitchen wisdom, whose truth is readily attested by anyone who has ever been in a hurry to cook something in boiling water, dates from the mid-nineteenth century. Clare Boothe Luce, reporting during the early years of World War II (Europe in the Spring, 1940), wrote, “A watched pot never boils, they say—only this one finally did.”