Small things

I had seen a quote which, I had read, was a Swedish Proverb: Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow. I quite liked it... until I read something which intrigued me - including a lot of quote pics which didn't include "Swedish Proverb".

An Ask site, Metafilter, in 2011 said it wasn't Swedish. I looked further. 

Wikispaces, in  Planeta Wiki, said it was Swedish language in English but they used a question mark. It was listed in English in Swedish Freak and was printed in an Indian book "Creative Management" by Hem Shanker Ray in 2006, page 296. Indian Mind Publications, apparently copyright 1996, gave a slightly different quote, "Worry casts long shadows of small things". 

Meryl Beck included it a "Needless worry" blog in August 2003 and called it Swedish. GIGA Quotes is copyright 1999-2013 to John C. Shepard, last revised in March 2013 but no indication when this "Swedish quote" was attached (see page 388). It showed up as Quote 9814 on Baertracks' "Creative Proverbs", which was copyrighted in 2004 but no later date enclosed. A link line took us to a page called "Creative Proverbs from Sweden", also from Baertracks and listed copyright 1996-2013. 

All Posters had an old picture selling for $USD12.99, no date and no quoter acknowledged. 

Anyway, the College of Education instructor Elizabeth Doone, PhD, based at Malmo in Sweden, listed this quote on a Summer Abroad in Sweden tour in 2016. Perhaps it really is Swedish. If Sweden accepts it then it can't be wrong. 

This big shadow has gotten a bit smaller.