take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves

English

Alternative forms

• take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves

Pronunciation

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Proverb

take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves

1. If one takes care of little things one at a time, they can add up to big things.
   • 1750, Chesterfield, letter 5 Feb. (1932) IV. 1500:

     Old Mr. Lowndes, the famous Secretary of the Treasury, ‥used to say‥Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves.

   • 1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act II, page 132:

     It is these little things that matter, Pickering. Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves is as true of personal habits as of money.

   • 1979, R. Cassilis, Arrow of God, iv. xvii:

     Little things, Master Mally. Look after the pennies, Master Mally, and the pounds will look after themselves.

   • 1999, ‘H. Crane’, Miss Seeton's Finest Hour, xi. 92:

     ‘Yes, it sounds on the melodramatic side,’ he said cheerfully, ‘but in wartime you can't be too careful about the smallest detail. Think of it as along the lines of taking care of the pennies, and the pounds will take care of themselves.’

Synonyms

• a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
• many a mickle makes a muckle
• every little helps

Antonyms

• don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish

Translations

if you take care of little things one at a time, they can add up to big things

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 積少成多／积少成多 (zh) (jīshǎochéngduō), 聚沙成塔 (zh) (jùshāchéngtǎ), 集腋成裘 (zh) (jíyèchéngqiú)

• Finnish: senteissä tuhannen alku, pennissä satain alku, markassa tuhanten
• French: les petits ruisseaux font les grandes rivières (fr)
• German: wer den Pfennig nicht ehrt, ist des Talers nicht wert
• Hungarian: sok kicsi sokra megy (hu)
• Irish: is é cosaint na pingine a chruachas na puint
• Japanese: 一銭を笑う者は一銭に泣く (issen o warau mono wa issen ni naku)
• Korean: 푼돈을 아끼면 큰돈은 저절로 모인다 (pundoneul akkimyeon keundoneun jeojeollo moinda)
• Polish: grosz do grosza, a będzie kokosza (pl)
• Russian: копе́йка рубль бережёт, а рубль го́лову стережёт (kopéjka rublʹ berežót, a rublʹ gólovu sterežót) (lit: a kopeck saves a rouble and rouble guards the head)
• Slovene: zrno na zrno pogača, kámen na kámen palača
• Spanish: un grano no hace granero, pero ayuda al compañero