127Japanese proverb ことわざ
大は小を兼ねる
だいはしょうをかねるDai wa shō o kaneru
“The large holds the small.”
The meaning
What can do much can also do little: the big vessel serves small uses. When in doubt about size, margin helps — without making it a rule of accumulation.
At the origin
Practical common sense, often cited when choosing tools and means.
The characters
- 大 daithe large
- は watopic marker
- 小
- を
- 兼ねる
はParticleMarks the topic: what the sentence is about — “as for…”.
In practice
For a lasting tool, allow for tomorrow's margin of use.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 197 積小為大 Accumulating the small builds the great.
- 021 猫に小判 Gold coins to a cat.
- 017 井の中の蛙大海を知らず The frog at the bottom of the well knows nothing of the great ocean.
- 080 大器晩成 Great vessels take long to complete.
- 217 初しぐれ猿も小蓑をほしげ也 First winter rain — the monkey too seems to wish for a little straw coat.