A row of copper nails driven flush into a plank, with the last nail still standing up.

Original artwork, not a still

Human Life (1819)

Samuel Rogers

Think nothing done while aught remains to do.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Don't call a job finished while anything is still left undone. It's a push toward thoroughness: the moment you feel like coasting, this says to look again for the loose end, because a nearly done task isn't a done one.

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