Light gains make a heavy purse.
Meaning: Small, consistent profits accumulate into substantial wealth over time through steady, diligent work.
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 Wisdom
- Lips however rosy must be fed. — Beautiful appearances require material sustenance to survive; aesthetic appeal alone cann…
- Little birds may peck a dead lion. — Even the weakest creatures gain power when facing something already defeated or in declin…
- One may see day at a little hole. — Even minimal openings to truth or knowledge suffice; darkness yields to the smallest ligh…
- Little minds, like weak liquors, are soon soured. — Petty intellects curdle quickly under pressure, while robust minds ferment into something…
- It's not how long, but how well, we live. — Quality of life matters more than its duration; meaningful living trumps mere longevity.
- The longest liver dies at last. — Everyone eventually faces mortality, regardless of how long they manage to live.
From our tongue twisters
- Корабли лавировали, лавировали, да не вылавировали. (Korabli lavirovali, lavirovali, da ne vylavirovali.) — One verb, three inflections, pure 'lav/vir' torture — the word grows with every repetitio…
- W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie i Szczebrzeszyn z tego słynie. — The opening of a poem by Julian Tuwim, now Poland's most-quoted tongue twister — the cons…
- Stół z powyłamywanymi nogami. — Six words, almost no vowels — a single noun phrase that non-Polish speakers find impossib…