# "The millstones of the gods grind slow, but they grind exceeding fine" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-millstones-of-the-gods-grind-slow-but-they-grind-exceeding-fine/160457 "2003-03-11T02:15:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-millstones-of-the-gods-grind-slow-but-they-grind-exceeding-fine/160457/1 "2003-03-11T02:15:37Z")
What does this mean, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-millstones-of-the-gods-grind-slow-but-they-grind-exceeding-fine/160457/2 "2003-03-11T02:28:32Z")
“Mills of the Gods, Grind exceedingly slow, But grind exceedingly fine.”, attributed to Euripides\* This is usually used as a modern revision: “Millstones of Justice turn exceedingly slow, but grind exceedingly fine.”, attributed to John Bannister, a Pennsylvania judge of the 1800s. In either sense, it means that matters inevitably get sorted out very well, but it happens very slowly. I consider it to be a cop-out to rationalize halfway measures and quietism. \*Euripides? Yeah! Eumenides? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-millstones-of-the-gods-grind-slow-but-they-grind-exceeding-fine/160457/3 "2003-03-11T02:31:09Z")
I’ve always heard it as “The millstones of _justice_ grind slow, but they grind exceeding fine.” It means the process of judgement takes time, but every detail is examined extremely closely and nothing gets through without inspection. ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-millstones-of-the-gods-grind-slow-but-they-grind-exceeding-fine/160457/4 "2003-03-11T02:53:43Z")
Do you know what a millstone is? It is a big stone, usually turned by a water wheel or windmill that is used to grind grain into flour. The phrase means that the wheels turn slowly, but they produce a very ‘fine’ result, like a finely ground flour. Think about corn chips, rough grind vs. cake flour, fine grind. ---
**Author:** ![bobk2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@bobk2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobk2)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-millstones-of-the-gods-grind-slow-but-they-grind-exceeding-fine/160457/5 "2003-03-11T02:57:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*I’ve always heard it as “The millstones of _justice_ grind slow, but they grind exceeding fine.” It means the process of judgement takes time, but every detail is examined extremely closely and nothing gets through without inspection. \*\* I have also heard it as “the _wheels_ of justice…” I’m guessing because a millstone looks a bit like a wheel. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-millstones-of-the-gods-grind-slow-but-they-grind-exceeding-fine/160457/6 "2003-03-11T03:30:37Z")
According to the _Oxford Dictonary of Quotations_ it is > [@](#): > > The mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small. They then say > [@](#): > > mid seventeenth century; translation of an anonymous verse in Sextus Empiricus _Adversus Mathematicos_ bk. I, sect. 287. Longfellow quoted it later, perhaps creating its lasting popularity.