A strange contradictory sentence

From a story: 慌てず急いで正確一歩ずつ な

"Hurry but don't panic"? Why use 急いで then say 一歩 right after? That's a contradiction. How should I understand or translate this sentence?

"Don't panic. Take one step at a time, carefully"? But this misses the 急いで part...?

Thanks in advance!

急いで=do it as fast as possible.
正確一歩ずつ=do not take a shot-cut. take your every step precisely.

As mentioned by the other poster, the sentence is implying that instead of missing a step by panicking, or instead of taking an hour for each step, you should take, for example, three seconds per step while taking each step carefully. There is no contradiction at all. I believe it's a very basic and universal work ethic.

Yes, Uco is right. Ancient Romans said: Festina lente. Make haste slowly.

「Why use 急いで then say 一歩 right after? That's a contradiction. 」


That's not necessarily a contradictionThe key here is that 急いで is followed not just by 一歩, but by 一歩ずつ. 一歩ずつ means "one step at a time," so it we look at the whole sentence
慌てず急いで正確一歩ずつ な
It's saying "Without panicking, hurry and take it one step at a time."

The situation is one that requires quick action. However, if you panic, you'll make mistakes and make the situation worse. So the best thing to do is to take things one step at a time, doing everything necessary, as quickly as possible (i.e. hurrying) but without letting yourself panic so that you try to do too much too quickly.