Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all. Friedrich von LogauRetribution. From the Sinngedichte. See Longfellows trans. Poetic Aphorisms. First line from the Greek Oracula Sibyllina. VIII. 14. Same idea in PlutarchSera Humanis Vindicta. Ch. VIII, quoting Sextus EmpiricusAdversus Grammaticos. I. 13. Sect. 287. Found also in Proverbia e cad. Coisl. in GaisfordParm. Græc. Oxon. 1836. P. 164. HoraceCarmina. III. 2. 31. TibullusElegies. I. 9.
Lento quidem gradu ad vindictam divina procedit ira, sed tarditatem supplicii gravitate compensat. The divine wrath is slow indeed in vengeance, but it makes up for its tardiness by the severity of the punishment. Valerius Maximus. I. 1. 3.
But as some muskets so contrive it As oft to miss the mark they drive at, And though well aimed at duck or plover Bear wide, and kick their owners over. John TrumbullMcFingal. Canto I. L. 95.