look before you leap

First loke and aftirward lepe.
[c 1350 Douce MS 52 no. 150]

We say‥Loke yer thou lepe, whose literall sence is, doo nothinge sodenly or without avisement.
[1528 W. Tyndale Obedience of Christian Man 130]

He that looketh not before he leapeth, may chaunce to stumble before he sleapeth.
[1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. xxiv.]

Looke before you leape.
[1621 Burton Anatomy of Melancholy ii. iii.]

Look before you leap is an old proverb. ‥Jack‥had pitched into a small apiary, and had upset two hives of bees.
[1836 Marryat Midshipman Easy I. vi.]

Do you remember the rousing slogan which the Prime Minister gave the voters‥on the eve of the last General Election?‥Look Before You Leap.
[1941 C. Mackenzie Red Tapeworm i.]

Changing horses, love? I should look before you leap.
[1979 D. May Revenger's Comedy ix.]

Related to: caution

Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.

Think of the consequences before you act, as in You'd better check out all the costs before you buy a cellular phone--look before you leap. This expression alludes to Aesop's fable about the fox who is unable to climb out of a well and persuades a goat to jump in. The fox then climbs on the goat's horns to get out, while the goat remains trapped. [c. 1350]