This document contains a collection of Japanese sayings and proverbs on various topics. Some of the key ones summarized are: - "Empty-handed I entered the world / Barefoot I leave it" about the simplicity of life. - "Time is not a line, but a series of now-points" speaking to living in the present moment. - "The stake that sticks out gets hammered down" meaning to not draw unnecessary attention or criticism. - "Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher" emphasizing the value of learning from experts. - "We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as

1. A Collection of Japanese Sayings
Which one do you like the best? Why?
How would you interpret it? Does it resonate with your own experience?
If you were creating your own saying, what might it be?

2. Empty-handed
I entered the world
Barefoot
I leave it.
My coming, my going --
Two simple happenings
That got entangled.
Kozan Ichikyo
Japanese Monk

3. Time is not a
line, but a series
of now-points.
Taisen Deshimaru,
Zen monk

4. 水に流す mizu ni nagasu
Translation: let flow in the water
English equivalent: Forgive and forget; water under the bridge

5. Rather ten thousand lanterns from a wealthy man than one
lantern from a poor man.

6. 石の上にも三年
ishi no ue nimo san nen
to stay three years on a rock
This proverb teaches the principle of perseverance by encouraging one to see
an enterprise through to its conclusion.
Adapted from Jonathan H. X. Lee; Kathleen M. Nadeau (2011). Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife. ABC-CLIO. p. 636. ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5.

7. deru kui wa utareru
Translation: The
stake that sticks out
gets hammered
down.
Meaning: "Standing
out goes hand in
hand with criticism."
English equivalent:
The nail that sticks
out gets hammered
down.
Roku Okada, Japanese Proverbs and
Proverbial Phrases, Japan Travel Bureau,
Tokyo 1955, page 28

8. A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even
though we do not love it.
Dogen, Japanese Monk

9. Some people like to make of life a garden,
and to walk only within its paths.
Japanese Proverb

10. People want to avoid the dew
before they become wet.
(Japanese Proverb)

11. Better than a
thousand days of
diligent study is
one day with a
great teacher.
(Japanese Proverb)

12. While we consider when to begin, it becomes too late.

13. We're fools whether we dance or not, so we
might as well dance.
Ancient Proverb

14. Cold tea and cold rice are tolerable;
what is intolerable is a cold gaze and harsh words.

15. If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty.

16. Forgiving the unrepentant
is like drawing pictures on water.

17. If you hire only those people you understand, the company
will never get people better than you are. Always remember
that you often find outstanding people among those you don’t
particularly like.
Soichiro, Honda Founder

18. しょしんわするべ
からず
shoshin wasuru
bekarazu
Translation:
We should not
forget our
beginner’s spirit.
(the
excitement/humil
ity of starting
something new)

19. Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods.

20. A Lean In Celebration for
Women in
Ed Tech Leadership
October, 2016