# those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those doing it

> English word · Proverb

## Definitions
1. People who dispute that a task is possible should not impede those people who attempt to do it.

## Etymology
Possibly from a Chicago newspaper in 1903: “Things move along so rapidly nowadays that people saying: ‘It can’t be done,’ are always being interrupted by somebody doing it.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/world/asia/ivanka-trump-china-summit-korea.html

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/those-who-say-it-cannot-be-done-should-not-interrupt-those-doing-it