Throw a sprat to catch a whale.
Meaning: Small initial sacrifices yield disproportionately larger gains when investments are strategically calculated.
Origin: A sprat is a small, cheap fish used as bait. The saying, more often heard as "a sprat to catch a mackerel," means risking a little to gain a lot, and goes back to the 18th century: a satire of 1747 has "a sprat to catch a salmon," and the whale version appears in print by the 1790s.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Do not spur a free horse. — Pushing someone already willing to help creates resistance instead of cooperation.
- Standers by see more than the gamesters. — Detached observers perceive patterns and opportunities that active participants miss thro…
- The higher the standing the lower the fall. — Elevated positions carry greater vulnerability to catastrophic collapse due to accumulate…
- Stars are not seen during sunshine. — Greatness becomes invisible when overwhelmed by more dominant presences or circumstances.
- He would starve in a cook-shop. — Incompetence in one's own field ensures failure, even surrounded by abundance and opportu…
- Step by step the ladder is climbed. — Incremental progress through consistent effort achieves what rushing toward ambitious goa…
From our idioms
- fall for something hook, line, and sinker — To believe something completely, usually in the sense of being fooled.
- hooked — Addicted.
- hopping mad — Very angry.