Steter Tropfen höhlt den Stein

Meaning: Small efforts, repeated often enough, achieve great things.

Literally: A constant drop hollows the stone

Example: “Jeden Tag zehn Vokabeln – steter Tropfen höhlt den Stein.” — Ten words of vocabulary a day: dripping water hollows out stone.

Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, and 6 more languages

English: Dripping water hollows out stone
French: Goutte à goutte, l'eau creuse la pierre (literally: Drop by drop, water hollows the stone)
Spanish: La gota de agua horada la piedra (literally: The drop of water bores through stone)
Japanese: 点滴石をも穿つ (Tenteki ishi wo mo ugatsu) (literally: Dripping water pierces even stone)
Italian: La goccia scava la pietra (literally: The drop hollows the stone)
Portuguese: Água mole em pedra dura, tanto bate até que fura (literally: Soft water on hard stone keeps hitting until it bores through)
Russian: Капля камень точит (Kaplya kamen' tochit) (literally: A drop wears away stone)
Polish: Kropla drąży skałę (literally: A drop bores through rock)
Chinese: 水滴石穿 (Shuǐ dī shí chuān) (literally: Dripping water pierces stone)
Korean: 낙숫물이 댓돌을 뚫는다 (Naksunmuri daetdoreul ttulleunda) (literally: Eaves-water bores through the stone step)
Turkish: Damlaya damlaya göl olur (literally: Drop by drop, a lake forms)

Origin: From Ovid, writing from exile in his Letters from the Black Sea: gutta cavat lapidem, the drop hollows the stone.

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