He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
The law of the harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny.
—George Boardman the Younger (1801–31) American Baptist Minister
Why not learn to enjoy the little things—there are so many of them.
—Unknown
Sometimes the littlest things in life are the hardest to take. You can sit on a mountain more comfortably than on a tack.
—Unknown
From a little spark may burst a mighty flame.
—Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) Italian Poet, Philosopher
Most people would succeed in small things, if they were not troubled with great ambitions.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself.
—Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) (1885–1962) Danish Novelist, Short-story Writer
One step and then another, and the longest walk is ended.
One stitch and then another, and the longest rent is mended.
One brick upon another, and the tallest wall is made.
One flake and then another, and the deepest snow is laid.
—Unknown
Almost everything comes from almost nothing.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Moral Philosopher, Poet, Critic
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
When (Ty) Cobb got on first base he had an apparently nervous habit of kicking the bag.. . By kicking the bag hard enough Cobb could move it a full two inches closer to second base. He figured that this improved his chances for a steal or for reaching second base safely on a hit.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
A little neglect may breed great mischief. For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; and for want of a horse, the rider was lost; being overtaken, and slain by the enemy. All for want of care about a horse-shoe nail.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Little strokes fell great oaks.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American Head of State, Lawyer
The chief duty I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
Johnson well says, “He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything.” Life is made up of little things. It is very rarely that an occasion is offered for doing a great deal at once. True greatness consists in being great in little things.
—Charles Simmons (1924–2017) American Editor, Novelist
When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.
—Jacob Riis (1849–1914) Danish-born American Social Reformer, Journalist, Photographer
Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by. Life is like that; one stitch at a time taken patiently, and the pattern will come out all right like the embroidery.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
If you only keep adding little by little, it will soon become a big heap.
—Hesiod (f.700 BCE) Greek Poet
Many strokes overthrow the tallest oaks.
—John Lyly (1554–1606) English Dramatist, Novelist, Writer
It was only a sunny smile, but it scattered the night. And little it cost in the giving; like morning light, and made the day worth living.
—Unknown
It is in trifles, and when he is off his guard, that a man best shows his character.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
Little by little does the trick.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
It is easier to forgive an enemy than a friend.
—Dorothee Luzy Dotinville (1747–1830) French Dancer, Actress
It helps a lot looking at life from the perspective of one’s certain death. Try to visualize yourself at the hour of death. Just a couple of minutes each day. It’s basic Buddhist beginners practice.
—Hans Taeger
I learned…that inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness.
—Brenda Ueland (1891–1985) American Journalist Memoirist
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
—Robert Brault
Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
If we take care of the inches we will not have to worry about the miles.
—Hartley Coleridge (1796–1849) English Writer, Poet
What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
Much rain wears the marble.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The smallest effort is not lost,
Each wavelet on the ocean tost
Aids in the ebb-tide or the flow;
Each rain-drop makes some floweret blow;
Each struggle lessens human woe.
—Charles Mackay (1814–89) Scottish Poet, Journalist, Songwriter
I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
—Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909) American Unitarian Clergyman, Writer
You don’t just luck into things as much as you would like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it is friendships or opportunities.
—Barbara Bush (1925–2018) American First Lady
If, after all, men cannot always make history have a meaning, they can always act so that their own lives have one.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
Human felicity is produced not as much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen as by little advantages that occur every day.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.
—Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish Writer
If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
Little drops of water, little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean, and the pleasant land:
So the little minutes, humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages of eternity.
Little deeds of kindness, little words of love,
Help to make earth happy, like Heaven above.
—Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney (1823–1908) American Educator, Poet
Well-being is attained by little and little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself.
—Zeno of Citium (c.334–c.265 BCE) Greek Philosopher
Many strokes, though with a little axe, hew down and fell the hardest-timber’d oak.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Even a small star shines in the darkness.
—Finnish Proverb
The prizes go to those who meet emergencies successfully. And the way to meet emergencies is to do each daily task the best we can; to act as though the eye of opportunity were always upon us. In the hundred-yard race the winter doesn’t cross the tape line a dozen strides ahead of the field. He wins by inches. So we find it in ordinary business life. The big things that come our way are seldom the result of long thought or careful planning, but rather they are the fruit of seed planted in the daily routine of our work.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
In the blood of the martyrs to intolerance are the seeds of unbelief.
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) American Journalist, Political Commentator, Writer
Life is a great bundle of little things.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
Practice yourself, for heaven’s sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
All that I have accomplished, or expect or hope to accomplish, has been, and will be by that plodding, patient, persevering process of accretion which builds the ant-heap particle by particle, thought by thought, fact by fact. If I was ever actuated by ambition its highest and warmest aspiration reached no further than the hope to set before the young men of any country an example in employing those invaluable fragments of time called odd moments.
—Elihu Burritt (1810–79) American Pacifist, Diplomat
For most of life, nothing wonderful happens. If you don’t enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are you’re not going to be very happy. If someone bases his happiness or unhappiness on major events like a great new job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris, that person isn’t going to be happy much of the time. If, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a drink or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness.
—Andy Rooney (b.1919) American Writer, Humorist, TV Personality