The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

The proverb frames seemingly impossible undertakings as the sum of modest, repeated actions. “Removing a mountain” stands for any overwhelming goal—mastery, reform, recovery, or building something enduring—while “small stones” represent the first practical steps that make progress visible and sustainable. Its force lies in shifting attention from the intimidating scale of the end result to the controllable scale of the next action. The saying also implies a moral lesson: persistence is not heroic in a single moment but disciplined over time, and the willingness to begin with humble tasks is what distinguishes aspiration from accomplishment.

The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
He who would move a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
A man who wants to move a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.