<P> "Little Things" is a 19th - century poem by Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney, written in Boston, Massachusetts . </P> <P> Little drops of water, Little grains of sand, Make the mighty ocean And the pleasant land . Thus the little minutes, Humble though they be, Make the mighty ages Of eternity . </P> <P> In 1845, when studying phonography in Stephen Pearl Andrews' and Augustus F. Boyle's class, Boston, Carney was asked to give an impromptu exercise on the blackboard . Only ten minutes were allowed, and in that time, she wrote the first verse of "Little Things". It became a favorite of children in Sunday school exhibitions from that time on, and was recited and sung thousands of times . It was first published in a Sunday school paper, Gospel Teacher (renamed, Myrtle). </P>

Little drops of water make a mighty ocean poem