The master's eye does more work than his hands.
Meaning: Vigilant oversight and attention accomplish more than physical labor alone.
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
- Medlars are never good till they be rotten. — Unpleasant external conditions sometimes precede inner ripeness; patience reveals hidden…
- Time and straw make medlars ripe. — Patience and neglect accomplish what effort cannot; some things require only waiting.
- It is never too late to mend. — Mistakes and poor situations remain fixable at any age or stage, no matter how long you'v…
- If every one would mend one, all would be mended. — Individual responsibility for self-improvement creates collective progress without relyin…
- In the end things will mend. — Patience through hardship yields eventual improvement; time itself becomes the healer of…
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From our idioms
- lame duck — A person who holds an office but has little real influence because he or she has not been…
- not look a gift horse in the mouth — To find fault with a gift or to refuse a gift, usually because one is suspicious of the g…
- look like the cat that swallowed the canary — To have a knowing and self-satisfied smile on one's face; to be pleased with oneself, oft…