For Want of a Nail

You may have heard this one before. It is a proverb traced back at least to the 13^th century.  It could be said to illustrate the importance of attention to detail. But since I don’t pay much attention to detail, I like to think of it as illustrating the importance of things and people we don’t typically think are very important.

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 message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.