two heads are better than one

English

Proverb

two heads are better than one

1. Some tasks may be accomplished more easily by two (or more) people working together than by one working alone.
   • 1818, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 8, in Rob Roy‎^[1]:

     "Mr. Francis Osbaldistone is an innocent man, Rashleigh," said Miss Vernon, "and he demands an investigation of the charge against him, and I intend to support him in it."
     "You do, my pretty cousin?—I should think, now, Mr. Francis Osbaldistone was likely to be as effectually, and rather more delicately, supported by my presence than by yours."
     "Oh, certainly; but two heads are better than one, you know."

   • 1882, Horatio Alger, chapter 23, in Ben's Nugget:

     On the principle that two heads are better than one, he resolved to take his companion, Jones, into his confidence and ask him to make a suggestion.

   • 1906, Arthur Quiller-Couch, chapter 17, in The Mayor of Troy:

     Two heads are better than one, sir. We will prosecute our investigations together.

   • 2003 November 9, Nancy Meyers as told to Amy Barrett, “Sex and the Single Older Woman”, in New York Times‎^[2], retrieved 25 February 2013:

     Collaboration is great for screenwriting. It's not as simple as two heads are better than one, but if you find the right person, you can feed off each other.

Translations

joint thinking pays

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 三個臭皮匠，勝過諸葛亮／三个臭皮匠，胜过诸葛亮 (zh) (sān ge chòupíjiàng shèng guò Zhūgé Liàng)

• Czech: víc hlav víc ví
• Dutch: twee hoofden zijn beter dan één
• Finnish: yhteistyö on voimaa
• French: deux avis valent mieux qu’un, deux têtes valent mieux qu’une, il y a plus dans deux têtes que dans une
• German: vier Augen sehen mehr als zwei (four eyes see more than two)
• Hungarian: több szem többet lát (hu)
• Icelandic: betur sjá augu en auga (many eyes see better than one)
• Italian: due teste sono meglio di una
• Japanese: 三人寄れば文珠の知恵 (san nin yoreba monju-no chie) (three people together have the wisdom of a Buddha)
• Lithuanian: dvi galvos geriau, nei viena
• Polish: co dwie głowy, to nie jedna (pl)
• Portuguese: duas cabeças pensam melhor [do] que uma (two heads think better than one)
• Russian: одна́ голова́ — хорошо́, а две — лу́чше (odná golová — xorošó, a dve — lúčše)
• Serbo-Croatian: dvije glave su pametnije (two heads are smarter than one)
• Spanish: cuatro ojos ven más que dos (es) (four eyes see better than two), dos cabezas piensan mejor que una (two heads think better than one)
• Swedish: fyra ögon ser mer än två (four eyes see more than two)
• Thai: สองหัวดีกว่าหัวเดียว
• Turkish: bir elin nesi var iki elin sesi var (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can