And now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.

Sometimes in life, you need to act quickly. Thinking too much about a problem does not always help. It can hold us back.

We have expressions that describe this way of thinking.

Capsule in palm of hand. "No time like the present.""A rolling stone gathers no moss.""Just do it!"

But sometimes slower is better.

Many things in life require careful thought and preparation. Sometimes we need to be cautious and take precautions.

A great expression for that kind of behavior is, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

This saying comes to us from Benjamin Franklin. In addition to being a writer, Franklin was a printer, political thinker, politician, scientist, inventor and diplomat. He was also one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

So, he was a busy man. But Franklin still found time to write and offer his advice to others. If he were alive today, he could probably make a good living as a life coach.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," is one of his most famous sayings. Now, Franklin lived during the 1700s, before the metric system took effect in Europe. The word ounce means something really small – just two-one-hundredths of a kilogram to be exact.

So, his expression meant that, when dealing with a problem, spending a small amount of time and effort early on is a good investment. It can save you more trouble in the end.

For example, if a country announces strong measures for containing a virus, we could say, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

It is better to take severe precautions than to suffer severe consequences later.

Word historians say that when Franklin first used this expression, he was not talking about disease but rather fire prevention.

During a visit to Boston in 1733, Franklin was impressed with the city's fire prevention methods. He tried to bring some of these practices to the city of Philadelphia, where he lived.

Supposedly, Franklin sent an unsigned letter to his own newspaper The Pennsylvania Gazette. Published on February 4, 1735, his letter -- "Protection of Towns from Fire" -- began with the expression "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Then he wrote about how a city should prepare itself for a fire.

From protecting yourself against sickness to preventing a house fire, this expression can be used in serious situations. It is a fixed expression, meaning we don't change the wording when we use it. We simply repeat it as is.

Let's listen to this example:

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