Benjamin Franklin — "Little strokes fell great oaks."
Little strokes fell great oaks.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Benjamin Franklin
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
"The way to see faith is to shut our eyes to that which is called reason."
"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."
"A small leak will sink a great ship."
"Shrewdness can turn one penny into two, but wisdom can turn a horse into a boy."
About Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Polymath Founding Father, diplomat, and Poor Richard's Almanack author who helped draft the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Closely associated with John Adams (fellow Founder, Massachusetts statesman) and Thomas Jefferson (fellow Declaration drafter). For an intellectual contrast, see Thomas Hutchinson, last royal governor of colonial Massachusetts — Franklin leaked Hutchinson's loyalist correspondence to Boston in 1772 to inflame revolutionary sentiment — Hutchinson represented the colonial-aristocrat crown-loyalty that Franklin's revolution was organized to dismantle.
Verification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: grok
1 source checked
Understanding this quote
What it means
Consistent small efforts, repeated over time, accomplish what seems impossible. You don't need a single heroic blow to fell a massive oak — you need patience and persistence. Applied to life, it means tackling big goals through steady, incremental work rather than waiting for one perfect moment. Progress compounds: each small stroke matters, and together they bring down even the largest obstacles standing in your way.
Relevance to Benjamin Franklin
Franklin embodied this maxim personally. Born poor, he rose through relentless daily discipline — he kept a famous ledger tracking progress toward 13 virtues, one at a time. As a printer, he built his business through sustained effort over years. His electrical experiments required patient, repeated trials. His political influence grew incrementally through decades of writing, diplomacy, and coalition-building, not a single dramatic act.
The era
Colonial America was a frontier society where physical labor and persistence were daily realities. Clearing farmland meant literally felling trees, so the metaphor resonated viscerally. The era celebrated Protestant work ethic — slow accumulation through steady toil over sudden windfalls. Franklin published this in Poor Richard's Almanack, targeting working colonists building lives from scratch in a land where patient, methodical effort separated survival from failure.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].