jap_proverb
TRANSCRIPT
Romaji: Sumeba miyako Literally: If residing, capital/metropolis Meaning: Wherever you live, you come to love it. Notes: -eba is a conditional miyako is kun-yomi for the `to' in Kyoto
Romaji: Nana korobi, ya oki Literally: Seven falls, eight getting up Meaning: Fall down seven times, get up eight times. An encouragement to persevere (ganbaru) Notes: From the verbs korobu and okiru respectively
Romaji: Saru mo ki kara ochiru Literally: Even monkees fall from trees Meaning: Even an expert can make mistakes; also sometimes used as a warning that "pride comes before a fall" Notes: A well known proverb, this one, with several variations (see following examples)
Romaji: Kappa mo kawa nagare Literally: Even a `Kappa' can get carried away by the river Meaning: Similar to saru mo ki kara ochiru, ie: anyone can make mistakes. Notes: A `kappa' is a water-sprite, but is used here for a good swimmer Often written as kappa no kawanagare
Romaji: Koubou mo fude no ayamari Literally: Even `Koubou' made mistakes with his brush Meaning: Similar to saru mo ki kara ochiru, ie: even experts can make mistakes (and to a lesser extent
"pride leads to a fall") Notes: Koubou was a Buddhist priest famous for his calligraphy
Romaji: Baka mo ichi-gei Literally: Even a fool has one talent Meaning: Even a fool may be good at something (I can't think of another way of putting this!) Notes: This is the `gei' of geisha
Romaji: Juu-nin to-iro Literally: Ten people, ten colours Meaning: Everyone has their own tastes; "Different strokes for different folks" Notes: Incidentally, apart from colour, iro is also used to mean sexy or exciting; eg: iroppoi = sexy. Another digression: -ppoi can be translated as `-ish' (eg: aka-ppoi = reddish) or sometimes as "has a strong impression of X" (eg: uso-ppoi = sounds like a lie).
Romaji: Toranu tanuki no kawa zan'you Literally: Count the skins of badgers which haven't been caught Meaning: "Don't count your chickens before they've hatched" Notes: -nu is a negative ending, and toranu modifies tanuki A tanuki is a Japanese animal somewhat like a badger or a racoon zan'you (usually san'you) means to calculate, or estimate.
Romaji: Isseki ni chou Literally: One stone, two birds Meaning: "To kill two birds with one stone" Notes: This is an idiom rather than a kotowaza (proverb)
Romaji: Neko ni koban Literally: A coin to a cat Meaning: "Pearls before swine"; ie: don't offer things to people who are incapable of appreciating them.
Notes: A koban was an old gold coin
Romaji: Buta ni shinju Literally: A pearl to a pig Meaning: "Pearls before swine"; ie: don't offer things to people who are incapable of appreciating them
Romaji: Nakitsura ni hachi Literally: A bee to a crying face Meaning: Misfortunes seldom come alone; "When it rains, it pours" Notes: Nakitsura is a compound of two kun readings: naku to cry, and tsura face (men is an on reading).
Romaji: Isogaba maware Literally: If hurried, go around Meaning: When hurried it is often faster to take a roundabout route, (ie: "more haste, less speed")
Romaji: Ame futte ji katamaru Literally: Rained on ground hardens Meaning: Adversity builds character
Romaji: Uma no mimi ni nembutsu Literally: A sutra (Buddhist prayer) in a horse's ear Meaning: A wasted effort; "pearls before swine"
Romaji: Deru kugi wa utareru Literally: Sticking out nail be hammered Meaning: The nail which sticks out will get hammered; encourages conformity Notes: Deru (to come out/stick out) modifies kugi (nail) Utareru is the passive form of utsu (to hit/strike) Sometimes kui (stake) is used instead of kugi Note: This kotowaza is used by some people (who should know better) to make glib generalisations about Japanese culture!
Romaji: Onna sannin yoreba kashimashii Literally: If three women visit, noisy Meaning: Wherever three women gather it is noisy Notes: this is a sort of pun, since the kanji for kashimashii (noisy/boisterous) is made up of three small kanji for woman. Interestingly, the meaning of this kanji in compounds usually implies craftiness or wickedness. Eg: kanjin = villain/scoundrel; kampu = adultress. yoreba is a conditional form of yoru = to visit/drop in
Romaji: He wo hitte, shiri tsubome Literally: Breaking wind, closing buttocks Meaning: There's no point in squeezing your buttocks after you have farted; "No use shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted" Notes: He can also be read onara, a fart Tsubomeru is to make narrow or to shut The linking of two -te form verbs like this gives the idea of doing X and then doing Y
Romaji: Fuku sui bon ni kaerazu Literally: Overturned water doesn't return to the tray Meaning: What's done is done; "There's no use crying over spilt milk" Notes: Fuku-sui is a compound made up of two on readings. The kun reading of fuku is kutsukaesu = to overturn; and the kun reading for sui is of course mizu Bon is the same character as in the obon festival The -zu ending in kaerazu is a negative (like -nai)
Romaji: Rakka eda ni kaerazu, hakyou futatabi terasazu Literally: Fallen blossom doesn't return to the branch, a broken mirror can not be made to shine Meaning: What's done is done; "There's no use crying over spilled milk" Notes: The ra in rakka is the kanji for otosu (to drop/let fall), but can also be read as ochi (the punchline of a joke) and is also the ra in rakugo (traditional funny story telling). Hakyou is a compound of yaburu (to tear/break) and kagami (mirror) Futatabi means again/once more Terasu is a verb meaning to shine on/illuminate (eg: teriagaru to clear up after rain), and -zu is a negative ending similar to -nai. Interestingly the kanji is also used for shyness.
Romaji: Atama kakushite, shiri kakusazu Literally: Cover/hide your head, and not cover your bottom Meaning: Don't cover your head but expose your bottom, ie: you have to be careful not to expose your weak point while attempting to protect yourself Notes: -zu is an informal negative, like -nai
Romaji: Tonari no shibafu wa aoi Literally: The neighbour's lawn is green Meaning: "The grass is always greener on the other side" Notes: The wa marks the neighbour's lawn, thus implying comparison Aoi here means "is green", -i adjectives do not require a verb
Romaji: Ningen banji saiou ga uma Literally: Humans everything `Saiou' horse Meaning: All human affairs are like `Saiou's horse; One's fortune/luck is unpredictable and changeable Notes: Saiou ga uma refers to an old story about a man and a horse, where what at first appears to be good luck turns out to be bad luck I got a couple of replies to this article relating the story of Saiou ga uma. It appears that it was an old Chinese folk take about an old man called Sai (the -ou, also read as okina, means "old man").
The story goes that one day his horse broke down the fence and ran away. When his neighbours heard, they commiserated with him over his misfortune, but he said `How do you know this is not really good luck?'. A few days later the horse returned, bringing another horse with it. However when his neighbours congratulated him on his good luck, the old man said `How do you know this is really good luck?'
Sure enough, some while later Sai's son falls while riding the horse, and breaks his leg. However this turns out to be good fortune when all the young men of the village are ordered to join the Emperor's army. Sai's son doesn't have to go since he has a broken leg.
Thanks to Naoki Shibata and Karen S. Chung for replying. Also Dave Huntsman points out that the Canon Wordtank translates Ningen banji, saiou ga uma as "Inscrutable are the ways of heaven".
Romaji: Gou ni itte wa, gou ni shitagae Literally: Entering the village, obey the village Meaning: "When in Rome, do as the Romans" Notes: The wa topicalizes the first clause, so this could be translated "Concerning entering a village, ..." or more naturally "When entering a village ..." Gou is a village or district or country Shitagae is the direct imperative of shitagau (to obey)
Japanese Proverbs
Saru mono hibi ni utoshi Out of sight, out of mind
Sawaranu kami ni tatari nashi Let sleeping dogs lie
Seishin ittou nanigoto ka narazaran Where there's a will there's a way
Kon'ya no shiro bakama.The shoemaker's children go barefoot.
Saru mo ki kara ochiru.Anyone can make a mistake.
Go ni itte wa go si shitagaeWhen in Rome do as the Romans.
Hstake kara hamaguri wa torenu.You can't get blood from a stone.
Sendo uko shite fune yama ni noboru.Too many cooks spoil the soup.
Seite wa koto wo shisonjiru Haste makes waste
Shiranu ga hotoke Ignorance is bliss
Shoujiki wa saizen no saku Honesty is the best policy
Sugitaru wa oyobazaru ga gotoshi Too much is as bad as too little
Chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru.Great oaks from little acorns grow.
Koi to seki to wa kakusarenu.Love conquers all.
Yanagi ni kaze.Follow the path of least resistance.
Nana korobi ya oki.If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
Heso o kamedomo oyobanu.Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
Suntetsu hito wo sasu Brevity is the soul of wit
Takara no mochigusare A white elephant
Toki wa kane nari Time is money
Tora no i wo kariru kitsune A bluffer. (A fox who borrows the skin of a tiger)
Tsukiyo ni chouchin Coals to Newcastle
Yasumono kai no zeni ushinau Penny wise, pound foolish
Iwanu ga hanaLiterally: not-speaking is the flowerSome things are better left unsaid; Silence is golden
Yowarime ni tatarime It never rains but it pours
777 Japanese Proverbs.
1. A bad wife is a poor harvest for sixty years.
2. A bad wife is one hundred years of bad harvest.
3. A bath refreshes the body, tea refreshes the mind.
4. A bean-jam rice cake into the open mouth.
5. A beautiful woman is like an axe in one's life.
6. A bee stinging a crying face.
7. A boat that is not tied up will drift along with the stream.
8. A borrowed cat catches no mice.
9. A boy living near a buddhist temple can learn an untaught sutra by heart.
10. A buddha's face when asked three times.2. 11. A centipede, though dead, will not fall.
12. A clever hawk hides its talons.
13. A coin to a cat.
14. A country can be conquered from the back of a horse but may not be ruled in the same manner.
15. A crooked top on a crooked kettle.
16. A crying child thrives.
17. A dead cherry tree will not blossom.
18. A dog that walks around will find a stick.
19. A dying man discovers the honesty with which he was born.
20. A faithful wife does not marry again.3. 21. A fallen blossom never returns to the branch.
22. A faultless person has seven faults, a faulty person forty-eight faults.
23. A fish gets bigger when it gets away.
24. A fog cannot be dispelled by a fan.
25. A fool is only cured by dying.
26. A frog in the well knows not the ocean.
27. A fruit-bearing tree is known by its flowers.
28. A full belly is not the stomach of a scholar.
29. A gilt-edged visiting card often hides an ugly face.
30. A good cat does not need a collar of gold.
31. A good husband is healthy and absent.
32. A good Jack makes a good Jill.
33. A good religion does not need miracles.
34. A good sword is the one left in its scabbard.
35. A joke is often the hole through which truth whistles.
36. A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.
37. A lie has no legs, but scandalous wings.
38. A man can endure the worst pain -- of others.
39. A man in love mistakes a harelip for a dimple.
40. A man in love mistakes a pimple for a dimple.
41. A man of straw is still a man.
42. A man who always wears his best kimono has no Sunday clothes.
43. A man with a sour face should not open a shop.
44. A man's good name is as precious to him as its skin is to a tiger.
45. A man's heart and the autumnal sky.
46. A man's heart changes as often as does the autumn sky.
47. A man's word is his honor.
48. A mended lid to a cracked pan.
49. A merchants happiness hangs upon chance, winds, and waves.
50. A merry companion on the road is as good as a nag.
51. A miser and his persimmon seeds.
52. A monkey makes fun of the red behinds of his fellow monkeys.
53. A padded jacket is an acceptable gift even in summer.
54. A pig used to dirt turns its nose up at rice.
55. A pig used to dirt turns up his nose at rice.
56. A powerful man has big ears.
57. A proposal without patience breaks its own heart.
58. A protruding post is hammered down.
59. A red lacquer dish needs no decoration.
60. A rosy face in the morning, white bones in the evening.
61. A round egg can be made square according to how you cut it; words would be harsh according to how you speak them.
62. A short temper is a disadvantage.
63. A silent man is the best one to listen to.
64. A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle.
65. A single prayer moves heaven.
66. A smooth talker is a good-for-nothing person.
67. A statement once let loose cannot be caught by four horses.
68. A sutra in a horse's ear.
69. A sutra.
70. A tea cup on the edge of a well.
71. A thousand li journey begins with a single step.
72. A three inch tongue -- the iron bulwark of politics.
73. A tiger dies and leaves his skin; a man dies and leaves his name.
74. A whip even to a galloping horse.
75. A wild goose may be worth a hundred pieces of gold, but you first have to spend three pieces of gold to buy an arrow.
76. A willow before the wind.
77. A wise man does not lose his way, a brave man does not fear.
78. A woman has many mouths.
79. A woman's heart and spring weather.
80. A word can't be recalled once spoken.
81. Absent friends get further away every day.
82. Abuse often starts with praise.
83. Acorns compare their height with each other.
84. Adversity is the foundation of virtue.
85. Advertising is the mother of trade.
86. Affinity is a mysterious thing, but it is spicy.
87. Afraid of his own shadow.
88. After the fight both parties give each other a good smack.
89. After three years even a disaster can be good for something.
90. After three years useless things are useful too.
91. After victory, tighten your helmet chord.
92. All married women are not wives.
93. Although dying of thirst, i drink not the water of a stolen fountain.
94. An accomplishment sticks to a person.
95. An ant hole may collapse an embankment.
96. An ant's nest could bring down a hill.
97. An eight-sided beauty is coldhearted.
98. An evil act runs a thousand miles.
99. An excess of courtesy is a discourtesy.
100. An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
101. An idiot is eloquent when he stays silent.
102. Any ground is good enough to be buried in.
103. Apple blossoms are beautiful, but rice dumplings are better.
104. Apply fitting ability in the fitting place.
105. Art is the illusion of spontaneity.
106. As soon as a man leaves his house he has seven enemies.
107. As soon as stones can swim, leaves will sink.
108. As though a bird had flown up from under your feet.
109. As to flowers, when half open; as to sake, when a person is half tipsy.
110. At a distance enjoy the fragrance of flowers.
111. At the bottom of the lighthouse it is dark.
112. At the first cup man drinks wine, at the second wine drinks wine, at the third wine drinks man.
113. Bad and good are intertwined like rope.
114. Beat your wife on the wedding day, and your married life will be happy.
115. Beaten with his own rod.
116. Beauty is skin deep.
117. Because of their figure, vain women stay cold.
118. Beginning is easy - Continuing is hard.
119. Beginning is easy -- to keep going is hard.
120. Better be proficient in one art than a smatterer in a thousand.
121. Better go without medicine than call in an unskilled physician.
122. Better than a banquet somewhere else is a good cup of tea and a bowl of rice at home.
123. Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.
124. Better to be a crystal and to be broken, than to be a tile upon the housetop.
125. Better to die than to live in shame.
126. Better to wash an old kimono than borrow a new one.
127. Better to write down something one time than to read something ten times.
128. Big fish do not live in small ponds.
129. Boasting begins where wisdom stops.
130. Boat-swalling fish do not live in brooks.
131. Books are preserved parts of minds.
132. Borrowed garments do not fit well.
133. Both quarrellers are to be punished.
134. Breeding rather than birth.
135. Brides and mothers-in-law are like dogs and monkeys.
136. Business and folding screens must be crooked to stand.
137. Business is a two-way street.
138. By poking at a bamboo thicket, one drives out a snake.
139. By seeing one spot you know the entire leopard.
140. Character can be built on daily routine.
141. Cheerfulness is the very flower of health.
142. Cherry blossoms in the recesses of a mountain.
143. Children grow up, with or without parents.
144. Children yoke parents to the past, present and future.
145. Clouds over the moon, a storm over blossoms.
146. Cold tea and cold rice are bearable, but cold looks and cold words are not.
147. Cold tea and cold rice are tolerable; cold looks and cold words aren't.
148. Common sense is essential.
149. Conqueror the self and you will conquer the opponent.
150. Consider the facts seven times before you suspect someone.
151. Consult anyone, even your knees.
152. Control of mental conduct, not skill, is the sign of a matured samurai.
153. Control your emotion or it will control you.
154. Cooked rice grains sticking to the soles of the feet.
155. Count the skins of badgers which haven't been caught.
156. Cover the ears and steal the bell.
157. Cover your head, and not cover your bottom.
158. Crabs dig holes according to the size of their shells.
159. Cupidity has no peak.
160. Darkness lies one inch ahead.
161. Darkness reigns at the foot of the lighthouse.
162. Day has its eyes, night has its ears.
163. Deceive the rich and powerful if you will, but don't insult them.
164. Deceiving a deceiver is no knavery.
165. Depend on your walking stick, not on other people.
166. Destroy a country, but its mountains and rivers remain.
167. Difficulties make you a jewel.
168. Disgrace is like the grain of a tree trunk -- time makes it bigger instead of erasing it.
169. Do good things quickly.
170. Do not prophesy to the man who can see further than you can.
171. Do not stay too long when the husband is not home.
172. Don't call in the doctor after the funeral.
173. Don't estimate the value of a badger skin before catching the badger.
174. Don't give your son's wife fall-harvest eggplant to eat.
175. Don't rejoice over him that goes, before you see him that comes.
176. Don't scratch your shoe when it's your foot that itches.
177. Don't stay long when the husband is not at home.
178. Don't take a golden sword to cut a radish.
179. Don't take seriously the cat who mourns for a mouse.
180. Don't tell others to do what you cannot do.
181. Don't try to cover the stone with a quilt.
182. Drink and sing: the dark night is ahead of us.
183. Due to the presence of fools wise people stand out.
184. Dumplings are better than flowers.
185. Duty is heavy as a mountain but Death is lighter than a feather.
186. Duty knows no family.
187. Each day you can admire the moon, the snow and the flowers.
188. Each has his yang chi.
189. Earthquakes, thunderbolts, fires, fathers.
190. Eat before falling in love.
191. Eggplants do not grow on melon vines.
192. Eggs and promises are easily broken.
193. Eggs and vows are easily broken.
194. Entering the village, obey the village.
195. Even a fool has one talent.
196. Even a fool knows the glow of gold.
197. Even a one-inch insect has a half-inch soul.
198. Even a sheet of paper has two sides.
199. Even a superb hawk will not catch game unless it is loosed.
200. Even a thief takes ten years to learn his trade.
201. Even a thousand-mile journey begins with the first step.
202. Even confucius had his misfortunes.
203. Even dust amassed will grow into a mountain.
204. Even if you hide yourself from the world, don't lose sight of your real nature.
205. Even in hell you meet relations.
206. Even monkees fall from trees.
207. Even monkeys fall from trees.
208. Even the Buddha's face, only until the third.
209. Even the stone you trip on is part of your destiny.
210. Even thinking about sexual pleasure has its roots in greed.
211. Even though you tread slowly over your rice field it will become muddy.
212. Even when a samurai has not eaten, he holds his toothpick high.
213. Even when he has not eaten, a samurai wields his toothpick.
214. Even when months and days are long, life is short.
215. Even when our sleeves brush together it is our karma.
216. Every fashion goes out of style.
217. Every little yielding to anxiety is a step away from the natural heart of man.
218. Every meeting is the beginning of a good-bye.
219. Every worm to his taste.
220. Fall down seven times, get up eight.
221. Fall seven times and stand up eight.
222. Fall seven times, rise eight.
223. Fall seven times, stand up the eighth.
224. Fall six times, rise seven
225. Fall six times, stand up seven.
226. Fallen blossom doesn't return to the branch.
227. Fallen blossoms do not return to branches; a broken mirror does not again reflect.
228. Fast Ripe, Fast Rotten.
229. Fate aids the courageous.
230. Fear blows wind into your sails.
231. Feed a dog for three days and it is gratefull for three years. Feed a cat for three years and it forgets after three days.
232. Fire does not burn in a jar.
233. First the man takes a drink of liquor, then the drink takes a drink, and then the drink takes the man.
234. First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man.
235. First things first.
236. Flattery is the best persuader of people.
237. Follow the villagers when you are in the new village.
238. Food is delicious when one is hungry.
239. Fools and knives require good handling.
240. Fools and scissors require good handling.
241. For rice cakes, go to the rice-cake maker.
242. Forgetting your native tongue means forgetting your native country.
243. Forgiving the unrepentant is like drawing pictures on water.
244. Fortune will call at the smiling gate.
245. Fortunes exist among leftovers.
246. From gods that are left alone, there is no curse.
247. From the mouths of babes and drunkards, you will learn the truth.
248. Gain from your opponents without sacrificing your own strength.
249. Generals conquer, soldiers are killed.
250. Getting money is like digging with a needle. Spending it is like water soaking into the sand.
251. Giving gold coins to a cat.
252. God lives in an honest heart.
253. Good luck in business is like the froth on an ox's face.
254. Good medicine often has a bitter taste.
255. Good things are never cheap.
256. Good things, many devils.
257. Gossip about a person and his shadow will appear.
258. Great deeds come from times of shortage.
259. Great talents mature late.
260. Great trees are envied by the wind.
261. Great villainy is often called loyalty.
262. Greetings are the patron gods of our time.
263. Grief itches but scratching it makes it worse.
264. Growing rice gives you more than poetry will.
265. Had the pheasant not screamed, it wouldn't have been shot.
266. Half an hour in a spring evening is worth a thousand gold pieces.
267. Happiness rarely keeps company with an empty stomach.
268. Happiness spring -- cleans the heart.
269. Having conquered, tighten the thongs of your helmet.
270. He draws water over his own rice field.
271. He flies into the flame, the summer insect.
272. He is not poor that hath not feel content.
273. He is poor who does not feel content.
274. He is rich who knows when he has enough.
275. He who admits to his ignorance shows it once only; he who tries to hide it shows it frequently.
276. He who burns his mouth on the soup will blow on a cold fish dish.
277. He who buys useless things, later sells things that he needs.
278. He who eats globefish soup is a fool; so is he who does not.
279. He who has gold is served by the devil.
280. He who hunts two hares leaves one and loses the other.
281. He who insults another, digs two graves.
282. He who is always right will never get round the world.
283. He who is dependant on others must make friends with the dog.
284. He who is desperate will squeeze oil out of a grain of sand.
285. He who is too servile ruins his back.
286. He who knows not when he has enough, is poor.
287. He who makes the first bad move always loses the game.
288. He who never goes is a fool; he who goes twice is also a fool.
289. He who sits in the shade won't take an axe to the tree.
290. He who smells does not know it himself.
291. He who steals incense smells of it.
292. He who talks to a silent listener will soon stand naked.
293. He who treads the path of love walks a thousand meters as if it were only one.
294. He who wants what God wants of him will lead a free and happy life.
295. He who wears a smile instead of worrying is always the strongest.
296. He who would go a hundred miles should consider ninety-nine as halfway.
297. Heart rather than appearance.
298. Hidden virtues ring like a soft bell.
299. How can swallows and sparrows know the thoughts of a great swan?
300. How good at combing is the bald priest.
301. I have no friends; I make my mind my friend.
302. I have no set principles; I make adaptability to all circumstances my principle.
303. I have no sword; I make no mind my sword.
304. I would like to break off the flower, but the branch is too high.
305. I'll give away rice fields and footpaths.
306. If a man be great, even his dog will wear a proud look.
307. If a man deceive me once, shame on him; if he deceive me twice, shame on me.
308. If a waterwheel exerts itself, it has no time to get frozen.
309. If eating poison finish up the plate.
310. If every day was a sunny day, who would not wish for rain?
311. If he works for you, you work for him.
312. If her works for you, you work for him.
313. If I peddle salt, it rains; if I peddle flour, the wind blows.
314. If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty.
315. If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master.
316. If my shirt knew my design, I'd burn it.
317. If neither animal nor vegetable you be, then mineral you are.
318. If one man praises you, a thousand will repeat the praise.
319. If the bird hadn't sung, it wouldn't have been shot.
320. If the father is a frog, the son will be a frog.
777 Japanese Proverbs.321. If the fountainhead is clear, the stream will be clear.
322. If the skin of your belly is tight, the skin of your eyelids can sleep.
323. If there is a lid that doesn't fit, then there is a lid that does. To a person that does not wander, there is not enlightenment. Fall seven times, stand up eight.
324. If unreason comes, reason goes.
325. If you are eager to be in the shadow, leave your axe at home.
326. If you are going out for a fight leave your best hat at home.
327. If you are going to fall it's muddy everywhere.
328. If you are going to sit on it for three years, the seat will certainly get warm.
329. If you are in a boat you are more afraid of fire than you are of water.
330. If you are looking for bad luck, you will soon find it.
331. If you are travelling towards the East, you will inevitably move away from the West.
332. If you beat even new floor mats, dirt will come out.
333. If you become a dog, turn into the dog of a wealthy family.
334. If you believe everything you read, you had better not read.
335. If you carry treasure, don't travel at night.
336. If you hate a man, let him live.
337. If you have no one else, then confer with your knee.
338. If you have only two pennies left in the world, with the first penny, you should buy rice to feed your family. With the second penny, say the wise Japanese, you should buy a lily. The Japanese understand the importance of dreaming...
339. If you look up, there are no limits.
340. If you love your son, let him travel.
341. If you love your son, make him leave home.
342. If you make a mistake, don't hesitate to correct it.
343. If you make love in the shade you get cold.
344. If you never climb Mt. Fuji, you're a fool, and if you climb it more than once, you're a crazy fool.
345. If you respect others, others will respect you.
346. If you respect others, they will respect you.
347. If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.
348. If you see Mt. Fuji, a hawk, and an eggplant on New Year's Day, you will be forever blessed.
349. If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by.
350. If you think about things too long, good thoughts will disappear.
351. If you turn into a dog, be sure to choose a rich family.
352. If you understand everything, you must be misinformed.
353. If you wait long enough, it will be good weather.
354. If you wait, there will come nectar - like fair weather.
355. If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
356. If you wish to learn the highest truths, begin with the alphabet.
357. If you would shoot a general, shoot his horse first.
358. In a quarrel, the higher voiced person will win.
359. In a wealthy man's house there is no lean dog.
360. In strategy, secrecy is highly regarded.
361. In the eyes of a lover a pock-marked face is one with pretty dimples.
362. In trying to straighten the horns you kill the ox.
363. Indifference is a generous kind of intolerance.
364. Inquire seven times then doubt a person.
365. Instead of worrying, a strong man wears a smile.
366. Into the house where joy lives, happiness will gladly come.
367. Invalids live the longest.
368. It belongs neither to the sea nor to the mountain.
369. It is a beggar's pride that he is not a thief.
370. It is a blessing in disguise.
371. It is better to be ignorant than mistaken.
372. It is better to be the head of a chicken than the rear of an ox.
373. It is better to go home and make your net than to gaze longingly at the fish in the deep pool.
374. It is better to write down something once than read it ten times.
375. It is easy to die -- the difficulty lies in living.
376. It is foolish to deal with a fool.
377. It is no use cutting a stick when the fight is over.
378. It is one life, whether we spend it in laughing or in weeping.
379. It is precisely the uncertainty of this world that makes life worth living.
380. It is the same life whether we spend it crying or laughing.
381. It is useful to first see the spark before the fire.
382. It's awful, I hate it" is hardly the other side of "That is beautiful and I loved it."
383. It's better to lie a little than to be unhappy.
384. It's better to not read at all than to believe everything you read. The day you decide to do it is your lucky day.
385. It's easier to make it than to think about it.
386. It's hard to know the quality of a person, or a watermelon.
387. It's no good trying to bite your navel.
388. Jizo's face when borrowing; emma's face when repaying.
389. Karma and shadows follow one everywhere.
390. Kind hearts are better than fair faces.
391. Kindness will never be wasted in any way.
392. Knowledge without wisdom is a load of books on the back of an ass.
393. Kyoto people ruin themselves for clothing. osaka people for food.
394. Large trees are envied by the wind.
395. Laughter cannot bring back what anger has driven away.
396. Laughter is the hiccup of a fool.
397. Lazy people have no spare time.
398. Let the past drift away with the water.
399. Let what is past flow away downstream.
400. Let's live helping each other in this world.
401. Life is a candle before the wind.
402. Life is a long journey with a heavy bag on its back.
403. Life is for one generation; a good name is forever.
404. Life is the source of all things.
405. Life without endeavor is like entering a jewel-mine and coming out with empty hands.
406. Life's not all beer and skittles.
407. Life? That is a candle in the wind; frost upon a roof; the twitching of the fish in a pan.
408. Like a buddha met with in hell.
409. Like a millstone dressed in a kimono.
410. Like trying to put a comb upon the nun's head.
411. Look for a thrifty woman -- even though it may cost you a pair of shoes.
412. Looking up we are not ashamed in the presence of heaven, nor bowing down are we ashamed in the presence of earth.
413. Love and a cough cannot be hidden.
414. Love lives in palaces as well as in thatched cottages.
415. Love without friendship is like a shadow without the sun.
416. Luck is like having a rice dumpling fly into your mouth.
417. Making money is like digging with a needle.
418. Man and wife are one flesh.
419. Man is the instrument of illness.
420. Man longs to see that which he is afraid to see.
421. Many flowers, few fruits.
422. May you live up to one hundred years and i up to ninety-nine.
423. Men and women are never placed too far apart to be near.
424. Money grows on the tree of persistence.
425. Money has no ears but it hears; no legs but it walks.
426. Money has no smell.
427. Money matters make strangers.
428. Moonlight and boiled rice.
429. More festive than the feast itself is the day before.
430. Mountains are not esteemed because they are high, but because they have trees.
431. My skirt with tears is always wet: I have forgotten to forget.
432. My son is my son till he gets him a wife, but my daughter's my daughter all the days of her life.
433. Never admit that there is a tomorrow.
434. Never judge things of which you only know the shadow.
435. Never rely on the glory of the morning nor the smiles of your mother-in-law.
436. Never trust a woman, even if she has borne you seven children.
437. Never trust the advice of a man in difficulty.
438. Never watch a bonfire wearing a straw coat.
439. No branch is better than its trunk.
440. No one buys what he recommends himself.
441. No one was ever hurt by laughter.
442. No road is too long in the company of a friend.
443. Not to know is to be a Buddha.
444. Not-speaking is the flower.
445. Nothing so visible than what you want to hide.
446. Obey the customs of the village you enter.
447. Old age cures us of our youth.
448. Old horses don't forget the way.
449. Old people are everyone's treasures.
450. Once conquered -- always a traitor.
451. Once dead the good and the bad are covered by the same moss.
452. Once we meet and talk, we are brothers and sisters.
453. Once you have made a fortune, know how to spend it.
454. One can stand still in a flowing stream, but not in a world of men.
455. One cannot always find a fish under a willow.
456. One cannot become a priest just by having a rosary.
457. One cannot quarrel without an opponent.
458. One cannot scoop up the ocean with a sea shell.
459. One coin saved, a hundred losses.
460. One dog yelping at nothing will set ten thousand straining at their collars.
461. One joy can drive away a hundred sorrows.
462. One kind word can warm 3 winter months.
463. One kind word can warm three winter months.
464. One kindness is the price of another.
465. One may study calligraphy at eighty.
466. One moment of intense happiness prolongs life by a thousand years.
467. One sees the sky through a hollow reed.
468. One who eats plain food is healthy.
469. One who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger.
470. One who waits patiently will catch a big fish.
471. One word let slip and four horses would fail to catch it.
472. One written word is worth a thousand pieces of gold.
473. One's village is revealed.
474. Only God knows one's term of life.
475. Only he who knows his own weaknesses can endure those of others.
476. Only lawyers and painters can turn white to black.
477. Only through suffering and sorrow do we acquire the wisdom not found in books.
478. Only when the coffin is closed will we see how long lasting is the name.
479. Our fates are as registered by heaven.
480. Over-intelligent people can't find friends.
481. Overturned water doesn't return to the tray.
482. Parents and children teach one another.
483. Pears and women are the sweetest in the parts that are heaviest.
484. People want to avoid the dew before they become wet.
485. People who are asleep can't fall down.
486. People with the same disease share sympathy.
487. Pick your wife in the kitchen.
488. Plan your life at New Year's eve, your day at dawn.
489. Poetry moves heaven and earth.
490. Poets know all about famous places without having been there.
491. Poke a bush, a snake comes out.
492. Poor is the person who does not know when he has had enough. He who talks to a silent listener will soon stand naked.
493. Poor men sleep the best.
494. Poverty is no sin, but terribly inconvenient.
495. Proof rather than argument.
496. Pursue your duties and don't let them pursue you.
497. Put faith in your own abilities and not in the stars.
498. Put faith in your own abilities and not in the stars.
499. Quiet worms will bore a hole in the wall.
500. Rained on ground hardens.
501. Rather ten thousand lanterns from a wealthy man than one lantern from a poor man.
502. Repentance never comes first.
503. Respect old people, and be gentle with children.
504. Revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians.
505. Say what you have to say, tomorrow.
506. Seeing is poison for the eyes.
507. Serve your neighbors as you would be served yourself.
508. Sickness is a thing of the spirit.
509. Silence makes irritation grow.
510. Silence surpasses speech.
511. Silent worms dig holes in the walls.
512. Sleep and wait for good luck.
513. Sleeping people can't fall down.
514. Small things are lovable.
515. Snakes follow the way of serpents.
516. Some people like to make of life a garden, and to walk only within its paths.
517. Some pray to the gods only when in trouble.
518. Sometimes it takes only an hour to get a reputation that lasts for a thousand years.
519. Sorrow is the seed of wealth.
520. Sparrows, though they live to be a hundred, do not forget their dance.
521. Speak well of others.
522. Spend words as efficiently as money.
523. Spending it is like pouring water into sand.
524. Steal goods and you'll go to prison, steal lands and you are a king.
525. Stupidity begins with honesty.
526. Suspicion bears dark devils.
527. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice inside the ceiling laugh.
528. Teaching is half learning.
529. Ten men, ten minds.
530. Ten men, ten tastes.
531. The absent get further off every day.
532. The acolyte at the gate reads scriptures he has never learned.
533. The bandits in the mountain are easily subjected, but it is difficult to subject the bandits in my heart.
534. The base of a lighthouse is dark.
535. The bean paste that smells like bean paste is not the best quality.
536. The beginning of sin is sweet; its end is bitter.
537. The boaster and the proud person are fools.
538. The caged bird dreams of clouds.
539. The cat is a saint when there are no mice about.
540. The character of a man lies not in his body but in his soul.
541. The cherry blossom among flowers, the warrior among men.
542. The child who died too soon was always beautiful and intelligent.
543. The clog and amida are both from the same piece of wood.
544. The consequence is the reward of the cause.
545. The country is in ruins, and there are still mountains and rivers.
546. The cow drinks water and it turns to milk; the snake drinks water and it turns to poison.
547. The criticism of a blind man.
548. The crow that mimics a cormorant gets drowned.
549. The day you decide to do it is your lucky day.
550. The devil was good looking at eighteen, and course tea makes a bitter first cup.
551. The dog called "Sorrow," without eating, will be fat in every house.
552. The dog that wags its tail won't be beaten.
553. The extreme form of passionate love is secret love.
554. The eye that is still says more than a chattering mouth.
555. The eyes are the mirror of the soul.
556. The eyes speak as much as the mouth.
557. The fast talker makes mistakes.
558. The flow of water and the future of human beings are uncertain.
559. The flowers of others are red.
560. The fortune-teller never knows his own.
561. The friendship of water and fish.
562. The frog in his pond sneers at the ocean.
563. The go-between wears out a thousand sandals.
564. The gods just laugh when men pray to them for wealth.
565. The goodness of the father reaches higher than a mountain; that of the mother goes deeper than the ocean.
566. The guest who seeks special attention muddies the host's tea.
567. The hard road turns the traveller into the same dust that he has to swallow.
568. The hawk with talent hides its talons.
569. The head of a dragon, the tail of a snake.
570. The head of a monkey, the headdress of a prince.
571. The heart is the most essential human quality.
572. The heaviest rains fall on the house that leaks most.
573. The hen tells the cock to crow.
574. The hole the crab digs takes on the shape of its shell.
575. The human heart is neither of stone nor wood.
576. The inarticulate speak longest.
577. The intimacy of water and fish.
578. The jellyfish never dances with the shrimp.
579. The lawyer will extend the frontiers of a fight.
580. The lazy one stands up between one armchair and another.
581. The lotus flower blooms in the mud.
582. The man who makes the first bad move always loses the game.
583. The marten is proud where there is no weasel.
584. The matchmaker always asks for too much money for his eight hundred lies.
585. The more stupid the child the dearer it is.
586. The more the merrier.
587. The more you eat, the more you gain.
588. The most beautiful flowers flourish in the shade.
589. The mouth is the cause of calamity.
590. The mouth is the door of evil.
591. The mouth of a man is a terrible opening.
592. The nail that sticks its head up is the one that gets hit.
593. The nail that sticks out is hammered down.
594. The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.
595. The nail that sticks up will be hammered down.
596. The neighbour's lawn is green.
597. The old people are treasures to us.
598. The old should be treated with due respect. Children should be treated with gentleness.
599. The other side also has another side.
600. The past is the future of the present.
601. The path of duty lies in what is near at hand, but men seek for it in what is remote.
602. The pebble in the brook secretly thinks itself a precious stone.
603. The pensioner gets the wages of the death.
604. The person who admits ignorance shows it once; the one who tries to hide it shows it often.
605. The plagiarist turns the body inside-out and changes the bones.
606. The poor have no time to spare.
607. The poor sleep soundly.
608. The prettiest of shoes makes a sorry hat.
609. The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour.
610. The reverse side also has a reverse side.
611. The sack of longing has no bottom.
612. The second word makes the fray.
613. The shade of the same tree, the flowing of the same stream.
614. The skill of using a mortar and pestle never leaves one.
615. The smaller the margin, the greater the turnover.
616. The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention.
617. The soul of a three year old until a hundred.
618. The sparrow flying behind the hawk thinks the hawk is fleeing.
619. The speaker may well be a fool but the listener is wise.
620. The spendthrift beats his money as if it were a carpet.
621. The spirit of a three-year-old lasts a hundred years.
622. The spit aimed at the sky comes back to one.
623. The splendor of the rose of sharon is but a day.
624. The spot that makes the warrior benkei cry.
625. The strong will protect the weak and, in return, the weak will serve the strong.
626. The stumbling of a fabulous horse.
627. The taller the bamboo grows, the lower it bends.
628. The taste of cold water after drinking, is a pleasure that the teetotaler will never know.
629. The tongue is but three inches long, yet it can kill a man six feet high.
630. The tongue is more to be feared than the sword.
631. The tongue of woman is her sword, which never rusts.
632. The turtle underestimates the value of fast feet.
633. The unscrupulous succeed every time.
634. The very thing one likes, one does well.
635. The winds may fell the massive oak, but bamboo, bent even to the ground, will spring upright after the passage of the storm.
636. The world is the world for the world.
637. There are formalities between the closest of friends.
638. There are no national frontiers to learning.
639. There are old men of three years old and children of a hundred.
640. There as many ways of making a living as seeds of grass.
641. There can be no offense where none is taken.
642. There is no coincidence in getting married.
643. There is no escape from heaven's web.
644. There is no escape from the net of heaven.
645. There is no flower that remains red for ten days, and no power that lasts for ten years.
646. There is no medicine for a fool.
647. There is no such thing as bad food when you are really hungry.
648. There is no such thing as dirty clothes when it is cold.
649. There is nothing that cannot be achieved by firm imagination.
650. Thirty-six plans of how to win the battle are not so good as one plan to withdraw from the fight.
651. Though the blind man cannot see it, light remains light.
652. Though the wind blows, the mountain does not move.
653. Tigers die and leave their skins; people die and leave their names.
654. Time flies like an arrow.
655. Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods.
656. Time tries a'.
657. Time waits for no one.
658. To ask is a temporary shame; not to ask, an eternal one.
659. To change like the eyes of a cat.
660. To commit harakiri with a pestle.
661. To draw water into one's own rice field.
662. To endure what is unendurable is true endurance.
663. To gamble as the dice fall.
664. To go in the right ear and out the left.
665. To kick with sore toe only hurts foot.
666. To know and to act are one and the same.
667. To leap into a pool embracing a stone.
668. To lend your hatchet and get your forest cut down.
669. To make the tea cloudy.
670. To one who does not wander there is not enlightenme
671. To receive a favor is to sell one's liberty.
672. To teach is also to learn.
673. To teach is to learn.
674. To tell tales out of school.
675. To the partial eyes of a lover, pockmarks seem like dimples.
676. To the starving man the beauty of Fujiyama has no meaning.
677. To wait for luck is the same as waiting for death.
678. To wear two pairs of straw sandals at once.
679. Tomorrow is a new day.
680. Tomorrow's battle is won during today's practice.
681. Too many accomplishments makes no accomplishments.
682. Too many boatmen will run the boat up to the top of the mountains.
683. Too many hands will row the boat up a mountain.
684. Too much is worse than too little.
685. Too much politeness is impertinent.
686. Transactions in Hell also depend upon money.
687. Trash accumulates in stagnant water.
688. True patience consists in bearing what is unbearable.
689. Truth often comes out of a joke.
690. Truthful words are seldom pleasant.
691. Two lovers in the rain have no need of an umbrella.
692. Under a powerful general there are no feeble soldiers.
693. Unhappiness can be a bridge to happiness.
694. Unless you enter the tiger's den you cannot take the cubs.
695. Unspoken words are the flowers of silence.
696. Victims of the same disease have a lot to talk about.
697. Virtue carries an empty purse.
698. Virtue is not knowing but doing.
699. Vision with action is a daydream; action without vision is a nightmare.
700. Vision without action is a daydream. Action with without vision is a nightmare.
701. Walls have ears, bottles have mouths.
702. Walls have ears, paper sliding doors have eyes.
703. Water will always take the form of the vase it fills.
704. We are no more than candles burning in the wind.
705. We can laugh happily with our children, but not with money.
706. We get along well with those we can get along with well.
707. We learn by watching and listening.
708. We learn little from victory, but a great deal from defeat.
709. We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.
710. We've arrived, and to prove it we're here.
711. Wealth gets in the way of wisdom.
712. What is good is not necessarily beautiful.
713. When a bonsai stops growing, you know it's dead.
714. When a girl in the teahouse smiles at you, look the other way.
715. When folly passes by, reason draws back.
716. When one dog barks for nothing, all other dogs bark in earnest.
717. When someone is really hungry, then there is no such thing as "bad food."
718. When someone offends you, you haven't given him enough love.
719. When ten thousand soldiers lie rotting, the general's reputation is enhanced.
720. When the cat mourns for the mouse do not take her seriously.
721. When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.
722. When the hand is put in, the foot follows.
723. When the heat has passed, you forget about the shade of trees.
724. When the heat has past, you forget about the shade tree.
725. When the moon is full, it begins to wane.
726. When the time comes, even a rat becomes a tiger.
727. When there are two fires in one room, only one will smoke.
728. When you are looking upwards you see no frontiers.
729. When you are polite, the others think they are wearing flowers.
730. When you are thirsty, it is too late to think about digging a well.
731. When you are thirsty, it's too late to think of digging the well.
732. When you do something wholeheartedly, you are not in need of helpers.
733. When you have a good government the grass will grow over your troubles.
734. When you have children yourself, you begin to understand what you owe your parents.
735. When you have completed 95% of your journey you are halfway there.
736. When you reject gifts from heaven you will be rewarded in hell.
737. When you talk about future happenings the devil starts to laugh.
738. When you're dying of thirst it's too late to think about digging a well.
739. When you're thirsty it's too late to think about digging a well.
740. When your companions get drunk and fight, Take up your hat, and wish them good night.
741. Where profit is, loss is hiding nearby.
742. Where there is fish, there is water.
743. Where there is laughter happiness likes to be.
744. Where there is no antagonist, you cannot quarrel.
745. Whether to go east or west depends on one's mind or feet.
746. While we consider when to begin, it becomes too late.
747. While young, the tree can be easily bent.
748. Who cares if a crow is male or female?
749. Who travels for love finds a thousand miles not longer than one.
750. Wine is the best broom for troubles.
751. Wine is water adulterated by foolish talk.
752. Wisdom and virtue are like the two wheels of a cart.
753. Wisdom is lost in a fat man's body.
754. With the first glass a man drinks wine, with the second glass the wine drinks the wine, with the third glass the wine drinks the man.
755. Without oars, you cannot cross in a boat.
756. Without wine, even beautiful cherry blossoms have small attraction.
757. Without women there is no day and no night.
758. Women's quarrels cause the men's wars.
759. Work the fields on a fine day, study on a rainy day.
760. Yesterday's flowers are today's dreams.
761. You are wise to climb Mt. Fuji, but a fool to do it twice.
762. You can only endure the weaknesses of others by knowing your own. Flattery is the best persuader.
763. You can see heaven through the eye of the needle.
764. You can worship a sardine's head if you believe in it.
765. You can't eat the rice cake in the picture.
766. You can't see the whole sky through a bamboo pole.
767. You can't straighten a snake by putting it in a bamboo cane.
768. You cannot catch a tiger cub unless you enter the tiger's den.
769. You don't have to die: heaven and hell are in this world too.
770. You have to bow a few times before you can stand upright.
771. You know your body best.
772. You should climb Mount Fujiyama once in your life. Climb it twice and you're a fool.
773. You warm up something for ten days and it goes cold in one.
774. You will lack nothing if you think privation is always with you.
775. You will never learn enough looking for only the good things in life; you will always be a pupil.
776. You won't get sick if you have plenty of work.
777. Your years will still remain the same whether you laugh or cry.