Needle in a haystack

This phrase is a lot older than Shakespeare and it was originally “a needle in a bottle of hay” – “bottle” being an early form of “bundle.” The expression has been popular through the centuries because it gives a clear and precise picture of an almost impossible task. For the record, the first example of this idea in print was in the works of St. Thomas More in 1532: “To seek out one line in his books would be to look [for] a needle in a meadow.”