not see the wood for the trees , auch: not see the forest for the trees AmE
can't see the wood for the trees

But that is a pity, for then they do not see the wood for the trees.

'Not really; it was a case of not seeing the wood for the trees.

I fear that this will mean that we will not see the wood for the trees.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I think we are in danger of not seeing the wood for the trees with this budget.

Most clients were too close to their organisation - they could not see the wood for the trees - to solve many of their senior recruiting problems.

Sometimes commentators do not see the wood for the trees - two countries in particular have been singled out for fevered attention on the sole question of the viability of their public debt to GDP ratios.

But while there were some word-perfect pedants who could not see the wood for the trees, there were other Assessors who were remarkably shrewd observers adept at spotting the slightest hint of evasiveness or insincerity.

To me, this is an example of not seeing the forest for the trees.

The city did not see the forest for the trees back then."

What's the old expression about not seeing the forest for the trees?

"We're not seeing the forest for the trees," he said.

It's a way of willfully not seeing the forest for the trees.

Heating oil specialists, however, believe that such talk is an example of not seeing the forest for the trees.

"Not seeing the forest for the trees, you mean?"

He needed the time off, he said, because he could not see the forest for the trees.

But his critics might see this as evidence of small-mindedness, of Lamoriello's not seeing the forest for the trees.

If you're anxious to buy now just because of your own financial situation or restrict yourself to a particular location, you may not see the forest for the trees.

In a recent interview, Mr. Grinker dismissed the criticism of his agency as coming from those "who maybe did not see the forest for the trees."

No matter who they are or what they do, fans so often turn into their children, reacting to the drama and passion of the moment, not seeing the forest for the trees.

"American environmentalists are not seeing the forest for the trees," says Jones, who admits that current projects in Squaw Valley and Kauai, Hawaii, have been stalled by local protests.

Having vision - without the "a" - is always good, particularly if it protects you from blind ambition, which is different from not seeing the forest for the trees, which I think is essentially nearsightedness.

"With this one, we could not see the forest for the trees," said Dr. Alan Dressler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, a leader of the team that made the discovery.

AT Fabled Foods in New Milford, the apt expression isn't about not seeing the forest for the trees, but not seeing the restaurant for the bread loaves stacked in the front window.

Mr. D'Amato decries criticism that he does not see the forest for the trees and fought for piddling programs that promised political payoffs while failing to oppose policies that cost the state billions of Federal dollars.