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Is there a proverb for "when one starts shaping up after losing many times". For example, I have failed in Maths Test many times, but now I am taking it serious and working hard to pass next time. The essence is that, we react after having much loss, rather than taking actions before.

Moreover, that proverb can be like the situation when a frog keeps regulating their body temperature in the boiling water, but in the end gets cooked.

There's a proverb in Urdu:

‎‏ﺁ ﺑﮯ ﺳﻮﻧﭩﮯ ﺗﯿﺮﯼ ﺑﺎﺭﯼ‘ ﮐﺎﻥ ﭼﮭﻮﮌ ﮐﻨﭙﭩﯽ ﻣﺎﺭﯼ

Translation: to shape up after having much loss, or continuous failure.

In addition, I thought that the following words would define it but not pretty sure about it as it looks like a quote:

"never leave for tomorrow that which you can do today."

I hope there's a English proverb for which I am asking here.

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  • "Administers" isn't idiomatic (or clear) in the sense that you're using it here. I think you mean something along the lines of "works to improve" or "shapes up"...
    – Laurel ♦
    Commented Nov 8, 2018 at 17:06
  • @Laurel, exactly, I mean 'works to improve'. So can you please suggest a single-worded verb for it?
    – Ahmed
    Commented Nov 8, 2018 at 17:08
  • "single-worded verb" or proverb? How do you like the answer below? "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again"
    – Zebrafish
    Commented Nov 8, 2018 at 18:20
  • "Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward" - Vernon Sanders Law
    – samgak
    Commented Nov 8, 2018 at 19:24
  • @Zebrafish, I was requesting single-worded verb substitute to the verb administer which I misused in title and the body of my question. Overall, I am surely requesting a proverb here, nether verb and nor any idiom.
    – Ahmed
    Commented Nov 9, 2018 at 2:30

2 Answers 2

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It's not an exact match, but a similar concept is given by the idiom turn over a new leaf.

Idioms by Free Dictionary gives us the meaning: "To change one's behavior, usually in a positive way." And Bloomsbury International provides the origin: "In the 1500s, people called pages in books ‘leaves’. When they turned over a new leaf, they were really turning to a blank page in their book to start writing something new."

Your history of bad scores have motivated you to turn over a new leaf in regards to your study habits. I hope it works out for you- both the idiom and your future studies.

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For your proverb request, consider: Little strokes fell great oaks.. Dictionary.com

Persistent in efforts, one can accomplish great feats.

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