188Japanese idiom 四字熟語
不撓不屈
ふとうふくつFutō fukutsu
“Unbending, unbroken.”
The meaning
Holding under pressure without being deformed or shattered. It is not the absence of trial that makes this strength, but the renewed decision to stay standing.
At the origin
A four-character idiom, a frequent motto of Japanese schools and sports clubs.
The characters
In practice
In the current trial, decide only to hold today — tomorrow will decide itself.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 169 乗りかかった船 The boat already boarded.
- 044 医者の不養生 The doctor neglects his own health.
- 130 不言実行 Act without announcing.
- 228 不二ひとつうづみ残して若葉かな The young leaves have buried everything — except, alone, Mount Fuji.
- 294 智に働けば角が立つ。情に棹させば流される。意地を通せば窮屈だ。 Act on reason, and you grow sharp-cornered. Pole along feeling, and you are swept away. Force your will, and you are cramped. Decidedly, the human world is hard to live in.