Songs of assiduity

How very small is the little plant that springs up 
from the acorn and how slowly it grows. And yet by 
growing a little each day, and year by year, it 
finally becomes a mighty oak and the birds sing 
in its branches and many cattle repose in its shade.

There are little coral insects that begin to work 
down on the bottom of the ocean. They build there 
cell after cell, one upon another, like little grains 
of sand. But day by day, and year by year, these 
little insects keep cheerfully toiling on, never 
stopping to rest or play until, at length, their 
rocky dwellings reach above the water. And in this 
way beautiful islands are formed and men go and dwell on them.

Little by little, and lesson by lesson I will gather up 
the knowledge which I find in books and in the world 
around me, said a thoughtful boy. And by learning a 
little every day and learning it well, he became, at 
length, a wise and useful man, honored and respected 
by all who knew him.