200Japanese quotation 名言
人の一生は重荷を負うて遠き道を行くが如し
ひとのいっしょうはおもにをおうてとおきみちをゆくがごとしHito no isshō wa omoni o oute tōki michi o yuku ga gotoshi
“A man's life is a long road walked under a burden; there is no need to hurry.”
The meaning
Accepting that the road is long and the load real removes the bitterness of both. Whoever knows they travel far sets their pace, spares their strength, and arrives.
At the origin
The opening of the testament attributed to Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Edo shogunate — a traditional attribution.
The characters
- 人 hitoperson
- の noof (link)
- 一生 isshōlifetime
- は
- 重荷
- を
- 負うて
- 遠き
- 道
- を
- 行く
- が
- 如し
のParticleLinks two words: possession or belonging, like “of”.
In practice
Set your pace by the real length of your road, not by impatience.
Editorial note
Attributed testament; traditional, not certain.
Themes
In the collections · Tsuwamono
Similar proverbs
- 219 この道や行く人なしに秋の暮 This road — no one else walks it. Autumn evening.
- 003 千里の道も一歩から A journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step.
- 173 正直は一生の宝 Honesty is the treasure of a lifetime.
- 018 百聞は一見に如かず Hearing a hundred times is not worth seeing once.
- 039 遠くの親戚より近くの他人 A close neighbor beats a distant relative.