practice makes progress

English

Alternative forms

• practice makes progress, progress makes perfect

Etymology

In analogy with practice makes perfect; this proverb states instead that progress must be made before one can perfect something, eliciting patience.

Proverb

practice makes progress

1. If one practices an activity enough, one will steadily make progress and eventually be able to master it in time.
   • 1987, Michael C. Jackson, Paul Keys, editor, New Directions in Management Science, Gower Publishing, →ISBN, page 50:

     There is a fine balance between asking too many questions and becoming an irritant, asking too few and knowing insufficient. But practice makes progress even if it is not possible to claim perfect.

   • 2010, Susan Fiske, Social Beings: Core Motives in Social Psychology, Wiley, →ISBN, page 171:

     Although people may not be good at suppressing unwanted thoughts and derailing unbidden ruminations, practice makes progress.

   • 2023, Sarah-Kate Duran, “Consistency”, in Paso Robles Press‎^[1]:

     But what I find the most inspiring is "Practice makes progress." Whether your progress is a yard or an inch — distance is distance.