「小学英语谚语」A small leak will sink a great ship．小漏沉大船。

A small leak will sink a great ship．小漏沉大船。

这条谚语用了船来作比喻，说明小的失误亦会造成大的损失。这指人们做事有时以为小的失误对于整体来说只是微不足道的事情，就容易掉以轻心，但却往往造成很大的恶果。

意思近似的谚语有：

A little neglect may breed great mischief．

小失成大灾/小误酿大祸。

Little chips light great fires．

星星之火，可以燎原。

这些句子都喜欢用上“小”（small，little）与“大”（great）来作鲜明对比，藉以告诫世人不要轻视小问题的大影响。

中国还有些谚语，所谓“小洞不补，大洞吃苦”、“千里之堤，溃于蚁穴”、“失之毫厘，谬以千里”等。孔子还有所谓“小不慎，则乱大谋”都是这个意思。

十八世纪美国政治家富兰克林（Benjamin Franklin）曾写下一长串的话，以表达这意思，很值得我们细细品味：

For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,

For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,

For the want of a horse the rider was lost,

For the want of a rider the battle was lost,

For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost—

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail．

近似意思的谚语还可参阅另一条谚语：A miss is as good as a mile.