For Want of A Nail (proverb) - Analysis

Analysis

"Knight" Variation

For want of a nail the shoe was lost,
 for want of a shoe the horse was lost,
 for want of a horse the knight was lost,
 for want of a knight the battle was lost,
 for want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
 So a kingdom was lost—all for want of a nail.

-JLA: The Nail
DC Comics, 1998

This proverb has been around in many variations for centuries (see historical references below), and describes a situation where permitting some small undesirable situation will allow gradual and inexorable worsening. The rhyme is thus a good illustration of the "butterfly effect", and ideas presented in chaos theory, involving sensitive dependence on initial conditions; the initial condition being the presence or absence of the horseshoe nail. At a more literal level, it summarizes the importance of military logistics throughout the history of human warfare.

An important thing to note is that these chains of causality are only seen in hindsight. Nobody ever lamented, upon seeing his unshod horse, that the kingdom would eventually fall because of it.

A somewhat similar idea is referred to in the metaphor known as The Camel's nose.

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