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I need an English proverb for this mentioned Hindi/Urdu proverb:

Chalti ka naam gaadi hai

Literally, it means "a thing which runs is called a vehicle," but that doesn't sound good. Actually it is used in a sense that when an institute, business, something else is working smoothly but there seems a room for improvement, and whenever the boss signals for improvement, then the ones who are lazy and don't want further betterment often use this proverb " a thing which runs (just operational) is called a vehicle. (Institute, business, etc)

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I like @DamkerngT's suggestion:

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Literally, if something is already (just barely) working, it doesn't need to be fixed (or improved upon). Actually I've often heard this phrase used in the context of (old, but still running) vehicles.

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    This is often shortened to "If it ain't broke..." With the rest implied.
    – Hogan
    Mar 30, 2016 at 15:38
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I think 'If it isn't broken, don't fix it!' is a really good suggestion, and it has the sense of 'why change something that is working and run the risk of breaking it?'

An alternative choice might be 'Let's not reinvent the wheel.' which has the sense of doing work that doesn't really need to be done because there is already a satisfactory solution in place.

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Nothing succeeds like success. Urdu-English Dictionary

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  • I don't see how this fits the question.
    – Chenmunka
    Mar 28, 2016 at 14:59
  • This might be a better link: phrases.org.uk/meanings/261100.html because it explains the saying in English. Because you're the original asker of the question, would you explain how the saying fits the proverb? It doesn't seem like it fits to me, but I don't read Urdu.
    – ColleenV
    Mar 28, 2016 at 20:41

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