take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.31 in modern English
97
Scrabble Score
56
Letters
8
Syllables
19
Unique Chars
Meaning
proverb
If one takes care of little things one at a time, they can add up to big things.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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."
- "Little things, Master Mally. Look after the pennies, Master Mally, and the pounds will look after themselves."
- "‘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.’"
Inflected Forms
Synonyms
Antonyms
don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish