he who laughs last, laughs best

he who laughs last, laughs best

proverb The person who has the final, decisive move or victory in a feud, quarrel, or competition is the only one who is truly successful. He may have won this round, but I'm going to come back in the final. He who laughs last, laughs best. I've waited years for revenge for what you did to me, but he who laughs last, laughs best. Now, your entire empire is in tatters.
See also: he, laugh, who
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • teach a man to fish
  • it takes a village
  • village
  • a man is judged by the company he keeps
  • a man is known by the company he keeps
  • best-laid plans go astray, the
  • the best-laid plans
  • the best-laid plans go astray
  • the best-laid plans of mice and men
  • a Jack of all trades is a master of none
References in periodicals archive
'In the light of this, we remind those who are gloating in their ignorance that 'he who laughs last, laughs best'.
INEC Server Ruling: Presidency's Celebration Premature a Atiku
HE WHO laughs last, laughs best is a proverb as old as the Aravali Hills.
IPL is now Indian Paap League
To quote Falstaff," We are all human beings together and he who laughs last, laughs best." Those who saw this Falstaff left feeling that they had witnessed Verdi's ifinal musical laugh--and were artistically and humanly richer for die experience.
Haliburton (on)
To me, however, the triumphant tone and use, no less than three times, of the terms "vengarse' and "venganca" suggest the smugness of "he who laughs last, laughs best."
The many "lives" of Pedro de Ribadeneyra