A shepherd discovered a hole in his sheepfold — a wolf had stolen one sheep during the night. His neighbor urged him to fix it. "The sheep is already gone; what's the point?" he replied.
The next night, another sheep was taken through the same hole. Filled with regret, he repaired the hole and reinforced the walls. From that day on, he never lost another sheep.
亡羊而补牢，未为迟也。见兔而顾犬，未为晚也。
亡羊而补牢，未为迟也。见兔而顾犬，未为晚也。
Reflection & Analysis · 寓意解读
Core Wisdom
It is never too late to correct a mistake. Delay compounds loss, but timely action — even after the first failure — prevents the second.
This proverb from the Zhàn Guó Cè contains a subtle double lesson. The obvious moral is: fix your problems before they get worse. But the deeper lesson is about the psychology of denial — the shepherd's first response, "what's the point," is a form of learned helplessness.
The turning point is not wisdom — it is pain. Only after the second loss does he act. The proverb gently acknowledges this, and says: even so, it is not too late. The door to correction is always open.