A wise man hears one and understands ten.
- 案ずるより産むが易し。
- Anzuru yori umu ga yasashii.
- Literally: Attempt is sometimes easier than expected.
- 馬鹿は死ななきゃ治らない。
- Baka wa shinanakya naoranai.
- Literally: An idiot will not be cured(of his idiocy), unless he dies.
- 出る杭は打たれる。
- Deru kui wa utareru.
- Literally: The stake that sticks out gets hammered down.
- 出る釘は打たれる。
- Deru kugi wa utareru
- Literally: The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
- 挨拶は時の氏神。
- Aisatsu wa toki no ujigami.
- Literally: Greetings are the people who turn up at the right moment.
- 秋茄子は嫁に食わすな。
- Akinasu wa yome ni kuwasuna.
- Literally: Don't let your daughter-in-law eat your autumn eggplants.
- 悪妻は百年の不作。
- Akusai wa hyaku-nen no fusaku.
- Literally: A bad wife spells a hundred years of bad harvest.
- 残り物には福がある。
- Nokorimono ni wa fuku ga aru.
- Literally: Luck exists in the leftovers.
- 虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず。
- Koketsu ni irazunba koji wo ezu.
- Literally: If you do not enter the tiger's cave, you will not catch its cub.
- 晴天の霹靂
- Seiten no heki-reki.
- Literally: Thunderclap from a clear sky.
- 猿も木から落ちる。
- Saru mo ki kara ochiru.
- Literally: Even monkeys fall from trees.
- 蓼食う虫も好き好き
- Tade kuu mushi mo sukizuki
- Literally: There are even bugs that eat knotweed.
- 井の中の蛙大海を知らず。
- I no naka no kawazu taikai wo shirazu.
- Literally: A frog in a well does not know the great sea.
- 蛙の子は蛙。
- Kaeru no ko wa kaeru.
- Literally: Child of a frog is a frog.
- 鳶が鷹を産む。
- Tonbi (or Tobi) ga taka wo umu.
- Literally: A kite breeding a hawk.
- 覆水盆に帰らず。
- Fukusui bon ni kaerazu.
- Literally: Spilt water will not return to the tray.
- 二兎を追う者は一兎をも得ず。
- Nito wo ou mono wa itto wo mo ezu.
- Literally: One who chases after two hares won't catch even one.
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- 継続は力なり。
- Keizoku wa chikara nari.
- Literally: Perseverance is strength.
- 門前の小僧習わぬ経を読む。
- Mon zen no kozō narawanu kyō wo yomu.
- Literally: The young monk before the gate can read sutra without studying them.
- 知らぬが仏
- Shiranu ga hotoke.
- Literally: Not knowing is Buddha.
- 見ぬが花
- Minu ga hana.
- Literally: Not seeing is a flower.
- 能ある鷹は爪を隠す。
- Nō aru taka wa tsume wo kakusu.
- Literally: The talented hawk hides its claws
- A wise man keeps some of his talents in reserve
