One sits down first; one thinks afterwards.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Playwright, Film Director
Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could only do a little.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
Little strokes fell great oaks.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
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
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
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
It is in trifles, and when he is off his guard, that a man best shows his character.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
Life is a great bundle of little things.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
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
Sometimes the littlest things in life are the hardest to take. You can sit on a mountain more comfortably than on a tack.
—Unknown
If you only keep adding little by little, it will soon become a big heap.
—Hesiod (f.700 BCE) Greek Poet
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
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
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
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
—Robert Brault
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
We think in generalities, but we live in detail.
—Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English Mathematician, Philosopher
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
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
In the blood of the martyrs to intolerance are the seeds of unbelief.
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) American Journalist, Political Commentator, Writer
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
It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.
—Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish Writer
Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
In life’s small things be resolute and great
To keep thy muscle trained; know’st thou when Fate
Thy measure takes, or when she’ll say to thee,
“I find thee worthy; do this deed for me?”
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
Not to go back is somewhat to advance. And men must walk, at least, before they dance.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
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
Put your heart, mind, intellect, and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.
—Sivananda Saraswati (1887–1963) Indian Hindu Spiritual Teacher
Almost everything comes from almost nothing.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Moral Philosopher, Poet, Critic
Nothing can be done except little by little.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
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