What is the Spanish idiom?

I was talking to a friend and she said something in Spanish that I understood to mean "If you travel the road you will get to the end." The sense that I got from the phrase was akin to the english idiom "Good things come to they who wait".

I am at a level of Spanish where I don't translate literally as much as I rely more on the sense/context of the conversation. I cannot recall the exact words but I think that the word "carerra" or "carretera" was used in the expression. Any ideas.

PdA

By Papi de Alejo on Dec 19, 2007, 20:33 in Friendly Talkzone.

Papi de Alejo says on Dec 19, 2007, 20:34:

Maybe it was if you climb a ladder you will get to the top.

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Colombiche says on Dec 19, 2007, 20:34:

All I can think of (no word carretera here) is "Caminante no hay camino, se hace camino al andar".

No me den trago extranjero, que es caro y no sabe a bueno.... (Rafael Godoy)

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john_stark says on Dec 19, 2007, 20:36:

I am at a level of Spanish where I have to rely on vulgar hand signals.

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Papi de Alejo says on Dec 19, 2007, 21:35:

Colombiche, I wonder if she used carretera instead of camino. If she did I missed a lot; but she agreed that my explanation of "Good things" fit in what she was saying. Not sure how much trouble I'm in. I'll have to slow down the conversations and go back to more literal translations.

I had to look for the whole thing to understand the context:

Caminante no hay camino
Wanderer, there is no way
Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino, y nada mas;
caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace camino,
y al volver la vista atras
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante, no hay camino,
sino estelas en la mar.

por Antonio Machado

JS, what can I say?

Car, in a strange way, you might be on to something.

PdA

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goin_south says on Dec 20, 2007, 00:16:

does she have her own car?

jjajjjj

'what does it mean, when one of you (colombians) tell another: YOU WERE NOT/ARE NOT. 'COLOMBIAN ENOUGH'?? jejeje..a mixture, I think, of stupidity mixed with a false sense of arrogance.. How 'colombian' do you have to be? to be 'colombian enough

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Lowell says on Dec 20, 2007, 10:22:

rome is where you make it. sorry couldn't help myself.

Alfred E. Newman. "What. Me Worry?"

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Papi de Alejo says on Dec 20, 2007, 15:12:

Lowell, to be truthful, I thought the same thing. I however, had a teeny bit of self-control.

I have more information on the phrase, I believe that it is something like "La carrera trae de cansancia". I could speculate, but......

PdA

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LaMovidCh(u)eca says on Dec 21, 2007, 06:47:

Ok. Maybe it was "Del afán no queda sino el cansancio" or "el afán solo trae cansancio". Literally "Only fatigue will come from a hurry" meaning that you gain nothing from doing something in a hurry.

Well, if all roads lead to Rome, how do Romans leave Rome for vacations? Do they have to walk backwards?

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LaMovidCh(u)eca says on Dec 21, 2007, 06:49:

Thought a bit more "Las carreras solo traen cansancio". It means the same as "Del afan solo queda cansancio. "Las carreras" means "the races", i.e., hurries, to do something in a hurry.

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Papi de Alejo says on Dec 21, 2007, 17:00:

Thank you, LaMovid. The phrase was "La carrera solo trae cansancio." I fully understand now what was inferred. The words all had meaning but I sensed that there was a more accurate sense to what was said. Idioms are probably the hardest part of learning any language. I try to avoid them but sometimes they come at you when you least expect them.

PdA

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