Better is half a loaf than no bread.

The proverb is commonly attributed to the Tudor playwright and epigrammatist John Heywood, who helped popularize many English sayings in the mid-16th century. It appears in his collection of proverbs, a work compiled in an era when printed commonplace books and proverb collections were becoming a major vehicle for circulating folk wisdom. England in Heywood’s lifetime experienced recurrent scarcity, price volatility, and social strain, making homely food imagery—bread above all—a natural way to express practical counsel. In that setting, the saying functions as a reminder to accept an imperfect but real provision rather than reject it in pursuit of an ideal and end up with nothing.

“Better is half a loaf than no bread” argues for pragmatic acceptance of partial gains. The “half loaf” stands for any incomplete success—limited resources, a compromise, a smaller reward—while “no bread” represents the risk of forfeiting what is available by insisting on perfection. The proverb’s force lies in its everyday concreteness: bread is basic sustenance, so even a reduced portion has value. It can be read as advice about negotiation and expectation management (take the attainable), but also as a moral check on pride or greed (don’t let the desire for more erase gratitude for what you have).

Better half a loaf than no bread.
Better a half loaf than none.
Half a loaf is better than no bread.