Someone is tempted to rush a task where a mistake would cost more than the time saved.

Warns that rushing a task can produce errors, rework, or loss that outweigh the time saved.

Applicable when speed is likely to reduce quality or create avoidable rework.

The saying advises the listener to slow down rather than risk getting something wrong. It names the fault it wants to prevent, an error, and it does not pretend that going slowly is free: it admits that taking longer has a cost and judges that cost to be the smaller one. Used in conversation, it turns a choice between speed and correctness into a clear priority, with correctness first. The advice fits work where an error is costly or hard to undo and where extra time does little damage. It is misapplied when the delay is itself the harm, as in an emergency, a closing deadline or a chance that will not wait, and it can sound like an excuse when offered to justify avoidable slowness. It holds only while slowness really is the lighter of the two costs.

A parent, teacher, senior colleague or friend might say it to someone who is hurrying through a task where accuracy counts, such as checking figures, filling in an official form or finishing careful handwork. It works as gentle advice before or during the work, and after an error as a mild reminder. It lands badly when the listener is already being careful and simply needs to move, or when the situation calls for fast action.