Traditional Japanese Proverbs

<<>>  

A good Jack makes a good Jill.

<<>>  

A good sword is the one left in its scabbard.

<<>>  

A pig used to dirt turns its nose up at rice.

<<>>  

A round egg can be made square 

according to how you cut it

<<>>  

A single arrow is easily broken, 

but not ten in a bundle.

<<>>  

Adversity is the foundation of virtue.

<<>>  

All married women are not wives.

<<>>  

An accomplishment sticks to a person.

<<>>  

Better go without medicine 

than call in an unskilled physician.

<<>>  

Darkness reigns at the foot of the lighthouse.

<<>>  

Deceiving a deceiver is no knavery.

<<>>  

Fall seven times, stand up eight.

<<>>  

First the man takes a drink, 

then the drink takes a drink, 

then the drink takes the man.

<<>>  

First things first.

<<>>

Forgiving the unrepentant 

is like drawing pictures on water.

<<>>  

Getting money is like digging with a needle. 

Spending it is like water soaking into the sand.

<<>>  

Had the pheasant not screamed, 

it wouldn't have been shot.

<<>>  

If a man is great, 

even his dog will wear a proud look.

<<>>  

If a man deceive me once, shame on him; 

if he deceive me twice, shame on me.

<<>>  

If money be not your servant, it will be your master.

<<>>  

If one man praises you, 

a thousand will repeat the praise.

<<>>  

If the father is a frog, the son will be a frog.

<<>>  

If you believe everything you read, better not read.

<<>>  

If you understand everything, 

you must be misinformed.

<<>>  

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

<<>>  

It is a beggar's pride that he is not a thief.

<<>>  

Knowledge without wisdom 

is a load of books on the back of an ass.

<<>>