A miniature staircase of green glass steps crumbling into sand, with a small brown shoe on the bottom step.

Original artwork, not a still

Euripides

A bad beginning makes a bad ending.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker claims that a poor start tends to lead to a poor finish. Flaws at the outset, on this view, carry through and shape the result, so an undertaking begun badly is unlikely to end well. It is a compact warning about how much early choices matter.

Context reviewed

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