A mouse, in time, may bite in two a cable.
Meaning: Persistent small efforts, repeated long enough, can eventually overcome even the strongest obstacles.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Perseverance
- Take time when time is, for time will away. — Seize opportunities promptly; delays risk losing them forever to circumstance's passage.
- Time and tide tarry for no man. — Constant natural forces—time's flow and ocean's tides—proceed indifferently; delay ensure…
- Time is the rider that breaks youth. — Youth's strength and invulnerability gradually diminish as years pass and experiences acc…
- What is a workman without his tools? — A skilled person stripped of necessary resources cannot apply their expertise effectively.
- Trade knows neither friends nor kindred. — Business transactions dissolve personal loyalties; profit motives override familial bonds…
- Fall not out with a friend for a trifle. — Friendships are too valuable to sacrifice over minor disagreements or petty disputes.