For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the man was lost

return pic

No detail is too small to ignore to achieve a successful outcome

origin pic

Freidank, an early 13th century didactic poet who is thought to have lived somewhere around Swabia, which was part of the German kingdom of the time. His version translates something like: The wise tell us that a nail keeps a shoe, a shoe keeps a horse, a horse keeps a knight, a knight, who can fight, keeps a castle.