Japan Proverbs Quotes

I’d later learn that in Japanese culture these long periods of silence, chinmoku (沈黙), were commonplace. It has its roots in Zen Buddhism, where silence is said to hold the secrets of existence. The Japanese proverb ‘It is better to leave many things unsaid’ captures the essence of chinmoku. Far from being awkward, in Japan silence is a natural part of daily interactions.

If you believe everything you read, better not read. - Japanese Proverb

Again, the law of balance does not allow anyone to take the lion's share of nature's gifts. Beauty in face is accompanied by deformity in character. Intelligence is often uncombined with virtue. "Fair girls are destined to be unfortunate," says a Japanese proverb, "and men of ability to be sickly." "He makes no friend who never makes a foe." "Honesty is next to idiocy." "Men of genius," says Longfellow, "are often dull and inert in society; as the blazing meteor when it descends to earth is only a stone." Honour and shame go hand in hand. Knowledge and virtue live in poverty, while ill health and disease are inmates of luxury. Every misfortune begets some sort of fortune, while every good luck gives birth to some sort of bad luck. Every prosperity never fails to sow seeds of adversity, while every fall never fails to bring about some kind of rise.

Nobunaga had originally wished to follow his victory at Okehazama by marching into Mikawa and attacking Motoyasu but his shrewd new rising general, Kinoshita Tokichiro, had advised him as follows: ‘When you have won a victory, tighten the strings of your helmet!’ This phrase, which subsequently became a famous Japanese proverb, meant that having won at Okehazama, Nobunaga should switch from military strength to deception and set his enemies against each other.