This is an aphorism from my aphorism book.
티끌 모아 태 산이다
ti·kkeul mo·a tae san·i·da
dust gather-PRES big mountain-be
Gather enough dust and it is a big mountain.
The word 태 [tae] gave me a moment's difficulty, as there was nothing in the Korean English dictionary(s) to indicate the meaning "big," but that's clearly what it means and I vaguely recalled running across that meaning before. I looked in the hanja dictionary, however, and found it easily – it's that character 太 which means big. So in this proverb, it's a kind sinism, I guess.
My aphorism book gives the charming, Dr Seussian translation of "Many a mickle makes a muckle." I had never heard this English aphorism in my life, so I ended up researching that, too. I guess it's mostly dialectical, limited to north England (Northumbria) and Scotland. It means lots of little things (mickles) add up to a big thing (muckle). Etymologically, however, they both derive from Old Norse, meaning "a big thing," which is odd.
[daily log: walking, 6.5 km]