Preserved by oral tradition, a proverb like this one carries a simple line that holds a larger truth. It offers a practical observation about life: lasting work takes time.

In life, deep changes rarely arrive in a single night. It takes patience to accomplish anything of real greatness. The ancient city of Rome did not appear all at once; it grew over centuries from a small city state into a vast empire, often called caput mundi, the capital of the civilized world. In times of stress, this old line whispers a gentle reminder: stay the course, practice patience, keep building.

When Vonnegut used the proverb in his novel Cat’s Cradle, he joined a long conversation. In 1546, John Heywood included a version of the saying in his collection of proverbs. The idea reaches back even further to a medieval French expression:

Rome ne fut pas faite toute en un jour.
Rome was not made in one day...

Music has carried the phrase too. Sam Cooke once promised in song, “I’m gonna make your love as strong as mine, but I know Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Years later, Amy Grant sang, “It takes a little time sometimes to get your feet back on the ground... it may not be over by morning, but Rome wasn’t built in a day... give it, give it time.”

Clichés can grow stale, yet some still serve as steady companions. “Rome wasn’t built in a day” invites us to breathe, rest our shoulders, and remember that meaningful work unfolds brick by brick, choice by choice, day by day.