what does this mean?

Question

for want of a nail the shoe is lost;for want of a shoe the horse is lost;for want of a horse the rider is lost

well done is better then well said

well done is better then well said

Answer 1

Basically it means that if you worry too much about the little things, the big things in your life will suffer. Also, since it escalates from nail to shoe to horse to rider, it is also implying that problems or worries can can have a domino effect and harm all aspects of your life

Answer 2

For want of means for lack of.

Horse shoes are held on by nails.

So, without nails, the horseshoe is lost. Without the shoe, the horse's usefulness is diminished. Without a useful horse, there can be no rider--he'd need something to ride.

Basically, this is the same saying as "the Devil is in the details." Even the little things are vitally important to the whole.

Answer 3

Even the smallest detail is important. The last line kind of explains it all.

Here is the entire poem...
For want of a nail the shoe was lost;
For want of a shoe the horse was lost;
For want of a horse the rider was lost;
For want of a rider the battle was lost;
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost;
All for want of a horseshoe nail.

Answer 4

this is speaking of a horse shoe,
without a shoe a horse really can't be ridden, it hurts the horses' hooves, possibly causing damage depending on the terrain.

so without a nail, the horse could not be shoed. So the battle was short one horse. Because they were short one horse, they were also short one rider and because of that one rider the battle was lost and because of that one battle, the war was lost.

Answer 5

The rider needs a horse;the horse needs a to be shod(horseshoe);the shoe needs a nail.

Answer 6

in search of small things we lose big things
small mistakes yields to big loss

Answer 7

take one thing out and lose it all. go to a great college and you studied hours for the exam, but you have no pencil...

Answer 8

wouldn't have a clue