The proper version of the next proverb. Pickle, a Scottish word for ‘a small quantity or amount’, is also found instead of little. Mickle (‘a great quantity or amount’) is now only Scottish.
Thys ofte as me seith, of lutel muchel waxeth.
[a 1250 Ancrene Wisse (1962) 32]
The proverbe seith that ‘manye smale maken a greet.’
[c 1390 Chaucer Parson's Tale l. 361]
We commonly say in englyshe: Many a lyttle maketh a great.
[1545 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus' Adages (ed. 2) G5]
Many a little makes a mickle.
[1614 W. Camden Remains concerning Britain (ed. 2) 310]
‘Many a little makes a mickle.’ It will be a long‥and weary job, but I must plod along.
[1822 Carlyle in J. A. Froude Life (1884) I. xii.]
‘There is the Tithe Relief. ‥But that is a small item.’ ‘Yes, but many a pickle maks a muckle.’
[1905 Westminster Gazette 29 Apr. 3]
Many a pickle (or little) makes a mickle.
[1979 C. Colvin Maria Edgeworth in France & Switzerland 196]
Related to: great and small
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.
