Okay, the following sentence makes using "better safe than sorry" a bit strange...

"Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Porzellankiste, sagt man in Berlin."

Any other suggestions out there?

would be a translation, but if your context is the Berliners and their funny expressions, you will have to do a literal translation - caution is the mother of a box full of china? hmmm...

It really does not help to simply translate it, so I would suggesting quoting it, offering a quasi-literal translation as an explanation.

But "Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Porzellankiste" does not mean "caution is the mother of the box full of china". "Porzellankiste" in this context is a symbol for the act of putting the china into a box for safekeeping rather than leave it outside unprotected. So I would suggest something along the line of "prudence begot boxing the china". Does that make any sense at all?

Oh, the horrors of having to translate (corrupted) sayings... Perhaps you could add 'better safe than sued' in parentheses?

I would say that is equally as good as 'better safe than sorry '

And here I always thought "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" was our translation for that German idiom. Go figure.

That's much better (as an idiomatic translation) than any of the other suggestions. "Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Porzellankiste" does not imply having learned from experience (which "once bitten twice shy" does imply).

I am from Berlin; I should know what it means. ;-)

Thanks for the endorsement!

A desperate attempt to retain at least a part of the German metaphor. "A bull in a china shop" is a well-established English expression, and some variant on it might fit the bill. But it is a bit of a stretch.

@Peter: Deinen Spruch würde ich mit "Der Elefant im Porzellanladen" übersetzen, was aber eine andere Bedeutung als die Mutter der Porzellankiste hat.

Bull in the China shop ist mehr im Sinne von ' Ins Fettnaepfchen treten '

Personally I find it very interesting that the phrase "Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Porzelankiste" - per German Dictionary DUDEN - originally come from the Shakespere drama *King Heinrich IV*.

Shakespeare lässt im 1.Teil seines historischen Dramas "König Heinrich IV. den komischen Helden Falstaff, einen beleibten, immer trinkenden und doch nie betrunkenen Prahlhans und Feigling, einen Zweikampf dadurch überleben, dass dieser sich tot stellt. Der Held kommentiert dann seine taktische Meisterleistung mit den Worten, "Der bessere Teil der Tapferkeit ist Vorsicht, und mittels dieses besseren Teils habe ich mein Leben gerettet."

This phrase "Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Tapferkeit" has changed over time:
Today the german Version is in use: "Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Porzellankiste"
im engl. Orginal: The better part of valour is discretion... ;
V,4. aus: Duden, Zitate und Aussprüche

So it is no german phrase but originally an english one.

All the best - I hope this helps.

Manche Leute sagen auch, Vorsicht sei die Mutter in der Porzellankiste.