Your search matched 833 words.
Search Terms: #proverb
Dictionary results(showing 26-125 of 833 results)
expression
•
nurture beats nature, keep good men company, and you shall be of the number, a mugwort amongst hemp (will grow straight, like the hemp)(proverb)(from a quote by Xunzi)
expression
•
don't lend money to a man who doesn't have an erection in the morning (because he's not healthy and might die before he can repay)(archaism, proverb)
expression
•
red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky in morning, sailors take warning, red sky at night, shepherds delight; red sky in morning, shepherds take warning(proverb)
Other readings:
朝焼けは雨夕焼けは晴れ【あさやけはあめゆうやけははれ】
expression
•
tomorrow is another day, there's always tomorrow(proverb)
Other readings:
明日という日もある【あすというひもある】
expression
•
if a man hears the Way in the morning, he may die in the evening without regret(proverb)(from a quote by Confucius)
Other readings:
朝に道を聞かば夕べに死すとも可なり【あしたにみちをきかばゆうべにしすともかなり】
expression
•
tomorrow will take care of itself, let the morn come and the meat with it, tomorrow, the winds of tomorrow will blow(proverb)
Other readings:
明日は明日の風が吹く【あすはあすのかぜがふく】
expression
•
nobody knows the morrow, speak of tomorrow and the ogres laugh(proverb)
expression
•
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, fifty today is better than a hundred tomorrow(proverb)
expression
•
what happens to one today may happen to another tomorrow, misfortunes can happen to anyone(proverb)
See also:今日は人の身明日は我が身
expression
•
the best men are from Edo; the best women from Kyoto(proverb)
expression
•
it's hard to please everybody, damned if you do and damned if you don't(proverb)
Other readings:
彼方立てれば此方が立たぬ【あちらたてればこちらがたたぬ】
expression
•
when there is a legal tender currency, bad money drives out good money (Gresham's Law)(proverb)
See also:グレシャムの法則
Other readings:
悪貨は良貨を駆逐する【あくかはりょうかをくちくする】
expression
•
no heat or cold lasts over the equinox(proverb)
Other readings:
暑さ寒さも彼岸迄【あつささむさもひがんまで】
expression
•
a burnt child dreads the fire, once bitten twice shy, to become overcautious from a bad experience(proverb)
Other readings:
羮に懲りて膾を吹く【あつものにこりてなますをふく】
expression
•
I don't care what follows, the future will take care of itself(proverb)
expression
•
don't judge a book by its cover(proverb)
expression
•
a day in life is better than a thousand days in the afterlife, better one day in this world than a thousand in the next(proverb)
Other readings:
彼の世千日此の世一日【あのよせんにちこのよいちにち】
expression
•
love is blind, (when in love) even pockmarks are dimples(usually kana, proverb)
Other readings:
あばたもえくぼ《痘痕もえくぼ》
、アバタもエクボ
expression
•
Other readings:
アホに付ける薬なし【アホにつけるくすりなし】
、阿呆に付ける薬なし【あほうにつけるくすりなし】
、阿呆に付ける薬無し【あほうにつけるくすりなし】
expression
•
Other readings:
あほの一つ覚え【あほのひとつおぼえ】
、あほうの一つ覚え【あほうのひとつおぼえ】
、阿房の一つ覚え【あほうのひとつおぼえ】
expression
•
there's always room for dessert, there's another stomach for dessert(proverb)
expression
•
slow but steady wins the race, constant effort will result in success, constant dripping wears away a stone(proverb)
expression
•
don't despair because you're the last to take your pick, you can find treasures in leftovers, one man's trash is another's treasure(proverb)
Other readings:
余り物に福が有る【あまりものにふくがある】
expression
•
the law has holes large enough for the most wicked men to slip through, the long arm of the law doesn't reach everywhere, fishes big enough to eat boats aren't caught by the net(proverb)
Other readings:
網吞舟の魚を漏らす【あみどんしゅうのうおをもらす】
expression
•
you can't catch the wind with a net(proverb)
expression
•
adversity strengthens the foundations, after a storm comes a calm, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger(proverb)
expression
•
to err and not change one's ways, this is what it is to err(proverb)(from the Analects of Confucius)
Other readings:
過ちて改めざる是を過ちという【あやまちてあらためざるこれをあやまちという】
、過ちて改めざる是を過ちと謂う【あやまちてあらためざるこれをあやまちという】
あやますなわあらたはばかなか
ayamachitehasunawachiaratamurunihabakarukotonakare
expression
•
do not delay in making amends for your wrongs(proverb)
expression
•
a small leak will sink a great ship(proverb)
expression
•
you can do anything if you set your mind to, even an ant's thoughts reach the heavens(proverb)
expression
•
something that has been joined together will eventually come apart, what may be joined may be separated(proverb)
expression
•
slow and steady wins the race, there is luck in the last helping(proverb)
Other readings:
慌てる乞食は貰いが少ない【あわてるこじきはもらいがすくない】
expression
•
it is easier to do something than worry about it, fear overruns the danger, it is easier to bear (a child) than to worry about it(proverb)
Other readings:
案ずるより生むが易し【あんずるよりうむがやすし】
expression
•
it's easier said than done, saying is easy; doing is hard(proverb)
expression
•
having food on the table is more important than having a high social standing, taro stems over family status(proverb, humerous)
Other readings:
家柄より芋がら【いえがらよりいもがら】
、家柄より芋幹【いえがらよりいもがら】
expression
•
all that lives must eventually die(proverb)
Other readings:
生き身は死身【いきみはしにみ】[1]
Notes:
- irregular okurigana usage
expression
•
there are exceptions to every rule, rocks will flow and leaves will sink(proverb, obscure)
expression, noun
•
perseverance prevails, three years on a (cold) stone (will make the stone warm)(proverb)
expression
•
the poor can't afford manners, only when basic needs for living are met can people spare the effort to be polite(proverb)
expression
•
more haste, less speed, slow and steady wins the race(proverb)
Other readings:
急がば廻れ【いそがばまわれ】
expression
•
there is only the thickness of the boat's planking between one and perdition, on a boat, one is only an inch or two from a watery grave(proverb)
expression
•
take care of the penny, he who makes fun of one yen will cry at one yen(proverb)
expression
•
the events of today are destined by the past, even drawing water from the same river reveals a bond from a former life, even chance relationships can be attributed to the working of fate(proverb)
expression
•
seen it once, seen it all, a single instance indicates what happens all the time, one case gives you an idea of what always happens(proverb)
expression
•
everything is preordained(proverb)
expression
•
people will believe something false if many agree that it is true (an example of argumentum ad populum), there's a tiger in the market(proverb)
expression
•
the whole year's plans should be made on New Year's Day(proverb)
Other readings:
一年の計は元旦に在り【いちねんのけいはがんたんにあり】
expression
•
best is Fuji, second is a hawk, third is an eggplant (of auspicious things to see in a dream, esp. one's first dream of the year)(proverb)
expression
•
a straw will show which way the wind blows, a falling leaf shows that autumn has come(proverb)
expression
•
thousands die to make one hero, one general reaches glory, ten thousand bones are left to dry(proverb)
See also:一将功成りて万骨枯る
Other readings:
一将功なって万骨枯る【いっしょうこうなってばんこつかる】
expression
•
thousands die to make one hero, one general reaches glory, ten thousand bones are left to dry(proverb)
expression
•
no one knows what the future holds, the future is a closed book, one sun (unit of measurement) ahead is darkness(proverb)
expression
•
there isn't a moment to be wasted, every moment is precious, make hay while the sun shines(proverb)
Other readings:
一寸の光陰軽んず可からず【いっすんのこういんかろんずべからず】
expression
•
tread on a worm and it will turn, even a tiny bug will defend itself, even the weakest and smallest beings have their own wills, so do not make light of them(proverb)
expression
•
take care of the penny, he who makes fun of one sen will cry at one sen(proverb)
expression
•
always dot the i's and cross the t's, don't neglect the slightest detail, be punctilious(proverb)
expression
•
you can't rely on parents and money to stay around forever, money comes and goes; so do parents(proverb)
Other readings:
何時迄もあると思うな親と金【いつまでもあるとおもうなおやとかね】
expression
1.
no matter what you attempt, tragedy may befall you(proverb)
2.
good luck may come unexpectedly(proverb)
Other readings:
犬も歩けば棒に当る【いぬもあるけばぼうにあたる】
、犬もあるけば棒に当たる【いぬもあるけばぼうにあたる】
expression
•
while there is life, there is hope, without life, there is nothing, don't waste your life(proverb)
Other readings:
命あってのもの種【いのちあってのものだね】
、命有っての物種【いのちあってのものだね】
expression
•
to live long is to outlive much, the longer you live, the more shame you suffer(proverb)
expression
•
the frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean(proverb)
expression
•
a child's emotions change easily, the bird that cried now laughs(proverb)
expression
•
saying no is also an expression of fondness, no often means yes, the lady doth protest too much(proverb)
Other readings:
嫌よ嫌よも好きの内【いやよいやよもすきのうち】
、いやよいやよも好きのうち【いやよいやよもすきのうち】
、いやよいやよも好きの内【いやよいやよもすきのうち】
、イヤよイヤよも好きのうち【イヤよイヤよもすきのうち】
、イヤよイヤよも好きの内【イヤよイヤよもすきのうち】
expression
•
cut your coat according to your cloth(proverb)
Other readings:
入るを計りて出ずるを制す【いるをはかりていずるをせいす】
expression
•
consider your income before spending(proverb)
expression
•
handsome men have neither money nor power(proverb)
Other readings:
色男金と力は無かりけり【いろおとこかねとちからはなかりけり】
expression
•
fair words fill not the belly, food before romance(proverb)
Other readings:
色気より食気【いろけよりくいけ】
expression
•
love and reason do not go together(proverb)
expression
•
faith is mysterious, faith is weird, even a pilchard's head (can be revered) through faith(proverb)
Other readings:
鰯の頭も信心から【いわしのかしらもしんじんから】
expression
•
some things are better left unsaid, silence is golden(proverb)
expression
•
speech is silver, silence is golden(proverb)
Other readings:
言わぬは言うに優る【いわぬはいうにまさる】
expression
•
lessons from history are not far to seek(proverb)(from Confucius: "the model for the Yin Dynasty is not far-off (but in the collapse of the preceding Xia Dynasty)")
expression
•
a starved dog does not fear the rod(proverb)
expression
•
greatness is comparative, there is always someone better than you(proverb)
Other readings:
上には上が有る【うえにはうえがある】
expression
•
if you do a favor for somebody, you will get a return favor, if a fish is friendly toward water, water will be kind to the fish too, mutual back-scratching(proverb)
expression
•
if you do a favor for somebody, you will get a return favor, if a fish is friendly toward water, water will be kind to the fish too, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours(proverb)
See also:魚心あれば水心
Other readings:
魚心有れば水心有り【うおこころあればみずこころあり】
expression
•
Other readings:
浮き世は夢【うきよはゆめ】
expression
•
birds of a feather flock together, don't mix your horses with your cows(proverb)
expression
•
nurture over nature, how one is brought up matters more than one's origins(proverb)
expression
•
show me a liar, and I will show you a thief(proverb)
Other readings:
嘘吐きは泥棒の始まり【うそつきはどろぼうのはじまり】
、うそつきは泥棒の始まり【うそつきはどろぼうのはじまり】
、嘘つきは泥棒のはじまり【うそつきはどろぼうのはじまり】
expression
•
the end justifies the means, circumstances may justify a lie(proverb)
Other readings:
うそも方便【うそもほうべん】
expression
•
we are innocent until proven guilty, suspicion alone is not grounds for punishment, in dubio pro reo(proverb)
expression
•
learn to crawl before you learn to walk, until you ride a horse, ride a cow(proverb)
expression
•
you can't judge someone until you've spent time with them, you can't judge something until you've tried it, try a horse by riding him, and judge a man by living with him(proverb)
Other readings:
馬には乗って見よ人には添うて見よ【うまにはのってみよひとにはそうてみよ】
expression
•
birds of a feather flock together, horses work best together, don't mix your horses with your cows(proverb)
See also:牛は牛連れ馬は馬連れ
expression
•
a foster parent is dearer than a real parent(proverb)
うめくさねくなかてんじんね
umehakuutomosanekuunanakanitenjinnetegozaru
expression
•
don't eat plum pits (because they are poisonous), if you eat a plum, don't eat the kernel; inside it heavenly gods sleep(proverb)
Other readings:
梅は食うとも核食うな中に天神寝てござる【うめはくうともさねくうななかにてんじんねてござる】
expression
•
be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth(proverb)(from Genesis 1:28)
Other readings:
生めよ殖えよ地に満てよ【うめよふえよちにみてよ】
expression
•
there are wheels within wheels, there's more than meets the eye(proverb)
Other readings:
裏には裏が有る【うらにはうらがある】
expression
•
like begets like, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eggplants don't grow on gourd vines(proverb)
Other readings:
瓜の蔓に茄子は生らぬ【うりのつるになすびはならぬ】
expression
•
speak of the devil and he shall appear, speak rumours of someone and they shall appear(proverb)
Other readings:
噂をすれば影がさす【うわさをすればかげがさす】
expression
•
there's no flying from fate, you can't fight fate(proverb)
expression
•
great men have great fondness for the sensual pleasures(proverb)
expression
•
people don't know themselves as well as they know others, even if you know what will happen to others, you don't know what will happen to yourself, a fortune teller can't tell their own future(proverb)
えんじゃくいずくこうこくこころざしし
enjakuizukunzokoukokunokokorozashiwoshiran-ya
expression
•
only a hero can understand a hero, swallows and sparrows can't understand the aspirations of phoenixes and swans(proverb)
See also:燕雀鴻鵠
expression
•
inscrutable are the ways people are brought together, there is no telling how people are brought together(proverb)
See also:縁は異なもの味なもの