Cf. late 13th-cent. Fr. mauvés ovriers ne trovera ja bon hostill, a bad workman will never find a good tool.
s.v. Outil, A bungler cannot find (or fit himselfe with) good tooles.
[1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & English]
Never had ill workeman good tooles.
[1640 G. Herbert Outlandish Proverbs no. 67]
It is proverbial that the bad workman never yet had a good tool.
[1859 S. Smiles Self-Help iv.]
I've read somewhere that a poor workman quarrels with his tools.
[1940 J. G. Cozzens Ask Me Tomorrow vii.]
Damn! Dropped the screwdriver. ‥Bad workmen blame their tools.
[1979 A. Fox Threat Signal Red xv.]
‘Virtuous War’ starts off with a bad idea, proceeds to a pair of disasters, then gets worse. As for the fundamental reason for its failure—for now let's just say, it's a poor workman who blames his lousy tools.
[2001 Washington Times 19 Aug. B8]
Related to: efficiency and inefficiency; work
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.
