maxim · Words worth keeping
Little strokes fell great oaks.
Little strokes fell great oaks.
Approximate author period: c. 1748 AD · early modern
From the source collection
Meaning
Limited strength, when persistently applied, can accomplish great feats.
This explanation comes from the collection, rather than a new Edsverb interpretation. See the attribution and source notes below.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Benjamin Franklin
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1748 AD · early modern
author lifetime midpoint
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- Familiar Quotations, ninth edition (1905 printing) (1905 AD)
Maxims prefixed to Poor Richard's Almanac, 1757.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
The voice behind the words.
Listed in the author section of Bartlett’s ninth-edition anthology, in the linked 1905 printing. Dates reflect that historical edition and may differ from modern scholarship.
More from Benjamin Franklin ↗