half the battle

phrase

: an important and necessary part of doing or achieving something

I think you will prosper, for the sincere wish to be good is half the battle.

—Louisa May Alcott

In the positioning war, half the battle is picking the right enemy.

—Ted Morgan

—often used with words like only and just to stress that something is not enough by itself to achieve a desired goal

Selecting which partners and investors to woo is only half the battle. Knowing how to pitch them is equally important.

—Michelle Goodman

Examples of half the battle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To Runtime Micro-Governance Establishing schematic and semantic clarity is only half the battle. — Barney Krishnan, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026

Do Not Forget The Roots Removing the visible vines is only half the battle. — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 24 July 2026

But everyone recognized that there was a lot of interest, which was great — that’s half the battle, getting people’s attention. — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 21 July 2026

Using retinol on your face is amazing for prevention, but only half the battle—what about your arms, chest, and legs? — Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 18 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1773, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for half the battle

• striatal
• battel
• brattle
• cattle
• chattel
• prattle
• rattle
• tattle