see the forest for the trees

English

Alternative forms

• see the wood for the trees, see the woods for the trees, see the forest but for the trees
• (rare) see the forest through the trees, see the trees through the forest
• (in the negative) miss the forest for the trees, miss the wood for the trees, miss the woods for the trees

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

John Heywood documented the English use of the proverb in 1546.^[1]

Pronunciation

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Verb

see the forest for the trees (third-person singular simple present sees the forest for the trees, present participle seeing the forest for the trees, simple past saw the forest for the trees, past participle seen the forest for the trees)

1. (idiomatic, chiefly in the negative) To discern an overall pattern from a mass of detail; to see the big picture, or the broader, more general situation.

   Smith is good at detail, but can't see the forest for the trees.

   • 1902, Emily Constance Baird Cook, Highways and Byways in London:

     It is, indeed, the principal drawback to the study of London that she is too vast—that the student is ever in danger of "not seeing the forest for the trees."

   • 1916, Albert Einstein (tr. Robert W. Lawson), “Preface”, in Relativity: The Special and General Theory:

     On the other hand, I have purposely treated the empirical physical foundations of the theory in a "step-motherly" fashion, so that readers unfamiliar with physics may not feel like the wanderer who was unable to see the forest for the trees.

   • 1919, Louis Tracy, The Strange Case of Mortimer Fenley, page 96:

     Your only failing is that you can't see the forest for the trees.

Usage notes

• This is almost always used in negative constructions, often starting with can't, as it is a negative polarity item.

Translations

to discern overall pattern from details

Chinese: Mandarin: 因小見大／因小见大, 見微知著／见微知著 (zh) (jiànwēizhīzhù) Finnish: nähdä metsä puilta

to be overwhelmed by detail to the point where it obscures the overall situation

Chinese: Mandarin: 見樹不見林／见树不见林 (jiàn shù bú jiàn lín), 盲人摸象 (zh) (mángrénmōxiàng) Czech: pro stromy nevidí les Danish: ikke se skoven for bare træer Dutch: door de bomen het bos niet meer zien Esperanto: pro multo da arboj arbaron ne vidi French: l’arbre qui cache la forêt (fr) German: den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht sehen (de) Greek: βλέπουμε το δένδρο και χάνουμε το δάσος (vlépoume to déndro kai chánoume to dásos) Hebrew: מֵרֹב עֵצִים לֹא רוֹאִים אֶת הַיַּעַר (he) (miróv 'etzím lo roím et hayá'ar) Hungarian: nem látja a fától az erdőt (hu) Japanese: 木を見て森を見ず (きをみてもりをみず, ki o mite mori o mizu), 木を見て森を見ず Norwegian: Bokmål: ikke se skogen for bare trær Nynorsk: ikkje sjå skogen for berre tre Portuguese: ver a floresta pelas árvores Romanian: a nu vedea pădurea din cauza copacilor Russian: не ви́деть ле́са за дере́вьями (ru) impf (ne vídetʹ lésa za derévʹjami) (various word order is possible) Serbo-Croatian: od drveta ne videti šumu, од дрвета не видети шуму Slovene: zaradi dreves ne videti gozda Spanish: no dejar los árboles ver el bosque Swedish: inte se skogen för alla träd (sv)

See also

• big picture
• bigger fish to fry
• bird's-eye view
• gestalt
• gist
• grand scheme
• not see for looking
• overview

References

1. Heywood, John (1546) The Proverbes of John Heywood‎:

   "You cannot see the wood for trees. Continued proverbial, being found in an anti-popish tract of the reign of Charles II. From him who sees no wood for trees/ And yet is busie as the bees/ From him that's settled on his lees/ And speaketh not without his fees,/ Libera nos. A Letany for S. triers, 1682."