Crossing bridges when you come to them

A strange proverb in that one cannot cross a bridge until one comes to it, however, crossing a bridge here is a metaphor for dealing with a problem or addressing an issue and the admonition don’t cross bridges until you come to them is simply a caution not to attempt to solve problems until all the facts are assembled. Although one instinctively feels that it is an old proverb, the earliest citation is from Longfellow’s The Golden Legend (1872). “Don’t cross the bridge till you come to it. It is a proverb old, and of excellent wit.” Longfellow thus acknowledges it as an old proverb, but no one has yet come forward with an older citation or source.