80 Japanese Proverbs and Quotes Full of Wisdom

Let yourself be enlightened by these inspiring quotes straight from the land of the rising sun. These Japanese proverbs about Fortune, Pride, Dignity, Time, and Mortality are what you need to get you through these troubled times. Let the wisdom of an ancient time make you ponder and appreciate the value of the profound observations about life and people that stem from the reflections of one of the wisest civilizations of our planet’s history. Keep in mind that even though they have been translated into English, their meaning remains the same!Japanese Proverbs - Even monkeys fall from trees.

Inspirational Japanese Proverbs about Life and Love

  • Even monkeys fall from trees.
  • Who chases two rabbits catches neither.
  • A frog in a well does not know the vast ocean.
  • Fall down seven times, get up eight.
  • The bamboo that bends is more durable than the oak that resists.
  • It is the same life whether we spend it laughing or crying.
  • Good medicine is bitter to the mouth.
  • If you love your son, let him go travel.
  • Love and a cough cannot be hidden.
  • Even a fool has at least one talent.

Japanese Proverbs - Who chases two rabbits catches neither.

  • Nothing is more expensive than what is free.
  • Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.
  • The prime of your life does not come twice.
  • Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.
  • A broken mirror cannot be made to shine.
  • The early one wins.
  • Each moment only once.
  • Many skills are no skill.
  • The child of a frog is a frog.
  • Drunken life, dreamy death.
  • After the rain, the soil hardens.
  • Sake reveals the real heart.
  • The deepest rivers flow slowly.
  • All married women are not wives.

Japanese Proverbs - A frog in a well does not know the vast ocean.

Japanese Proverbs, Full of Wisdom, Which are Invaluable Life Lessons

  • It is dark one inch ahead of you.
  • Our strengths are our weaknesses.
  • Nothing is more expensive than free.
  • Friends are known first in hardships.
  • The face becomes a mirror of the soul.
  • Kill a bull by straightening its horns.
  • Money grows on the tree of Persistence.
  • Wherever you live, you come to love it.
  • Spilled water will not return to the tray.
  • Unless he dies, a fool may not be cured.

Japanese Proverbs - Fall down seven times, get up eight.

  • One kind word can warm three winter months.
  • We must never forget the explorer’s spirit.
  • We should never forget our beginner’s spirit
  • The day you decide to do it is your lucky day
  • We learn little from victory, much from defeat
  • After three years, useless things are useful too.
  • Always depend on your walking stick, not on other people.
  • Sometimes you must use poison to deal with poison.
  • The extreme form of passionate love is secret love.
  • Plan for tomorrow, and the attic mouse shall mock you.

Japanese Proverbs - The bamboo that bends is more durable than the oak that resists.

Famous Japanese Quotes that Will Teach You a Lesson

  • In wealth, many friends, in poverty, not even relatives.
  • One who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger
  • The good fellow to everyone is a good friend to no one.
  • Men and women are never placed too far apart to be near.
  • There is no need to bait the fish you’ve already caught.
  • Love without friendship is like a shadow without the sun.
  • It is because of fools that wise men can stand out.
  • Once dead, the good and the bad are covered by the same moss.
  • When someone offends you, you haven’t given him enough love.
  • You don’t have to die. Heaven and hell are in this world too.

Japanese Proverbs - It is the same life whether we spend it laughing or crying.

  • Knowing how to do a lot means not knowing how to do anything.
  • Concentrate on the first steps rather than the entire journey.
  • If you believe everything you read, you shouldn’t read.
  • One kind word can warm up three winter months.
  • Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still
  • Never trust a beautiful morning and your mother-in-law’s smile.
  • There are old men of three years old and children of a hundred.
  • We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.
  • When you reject gifts from heaven, you will be rewarded in hell.
  • Half an hour in a spring night is as valuable as 100 gold coins.
  • Who travels for love finds a thousand miles not longer than one.
  • If you do not enter the tiger’s cave, you will not catch its cub.
  • When one’s character is unclear to you, look over to his friends.
  • When you have completed 95 of your journey, you are halfway there.

Japanese Proverbs - If you love your son, let him go travel.

  • In the eyes of a lover, a pock-marked face is one with pretty dimples.
  • When you do something wholeheartedly, you do not need helpers.
  • Experience is an expensive school, but a fool will learn from no other.
  • Experience the beauties of nature, and in doing so, learn about yourself.
  • The tongue is but three inches long, yet it can kill a man six feet high.
  • The wise man does not lose his path, the brave one does not grow fearful.
  • Victory belongs to those who wait half an hour longer than their opponent.
  • Cold tea and cold rice are bearable, but cold looks and cold words are not.
  • For the one who travels for love, 1,000 kilometers are not longer than one.
  • A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials
  • He who treads the path of love walks a thousand meters as if it were only one.
  • The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour.
  • What you don’t sweat out when you’re young will turn into tears when you’re old.

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