Japanese Proverbs – The metaphorical thinking about life originates from the wellspring of human imagination, that distinguishes a man from any other creature in the Universe, a man can bleed through words, translate life’s pragmatic learnings into poetry and proverbs.
As the time tosses and turns, our practises do too, but the archaic proverbs still have sinister similarities with our modern day sufferings so we should never rule out the wisdom our forefathers shared with us.
Japanese people, in that regard are the maestros of proverbs, Japanese proverb.
We really marvel at how their coinages crackle with simplicity and truth. No wonder, the humankind have always turned to the Japanese people for life’s lessons because they are the assiduous warriors who are not afraid of failure and pitching for greater success. These Japanese proverbs that are mentioned below are translated but meanings remain same nonetheless:
Japanese Proverbs –
“In the struggle between stone and water, in time the water wins”
We all have pelted stone in the water to see it reverberate and create ripples, but the stone drowns after all by the law of nature. So, if you are like that all-encompassing glassy water and people are keeping you at the edge of suffering, all evil will eventually fade away if you prove your mettle.
“Fear is only as deep as the mind allows”
Fear cuts deeper than sword. A person is only stronger when he accepts his flaws himself so that no one else can use it against him. Fear only binds you in confinement, it’s all in your mind, you decide how deep your fear will dig into your mind. There is victory on the other side of fear, don’t forget.
“The tongue is three inches long, yet it can kill a man six feet high”
When a judge signs the death sentence for a criminal, this proverb has its real life implication. This happened always in history, people dying in someone’s order. But then in our lives, we should keep our words on check and should not say toxic things to people when angry only to regret later, you don’t know how deep emotional scars it will cause him.
“If you understand everything, you must be misinformed”
There are cynics, who pretend to understand everything but don’t know how applicability their superficial knowledge has on the practical life. However, Japanese people question the depth of their knowledge that pretends to understand everything and practise bigotry. A wise man always thinks he is fool and a fool is always cocksure.
“He, who runs after two hares, will catch neither”
It is same like keeping your feet on two boats in motion at the same time, it will be topsy-turvy and lead to your downfall. You should hold on to what you have got, only make it better.
“The Bamboo that bends is stronger than the Oak that resists”
You need to bend sometimes to ensure your stronghold in the long haul. Holding on to your pride isn’t always the wise idea.
These Japanese proverbs are so profound that leaves us thinking what we are doing with our lives.
