001Japanese proverb ことわざ
石の上にも三年
いしのうえにもさんねんIshi no ue ni mo sannen
“Even a stone grows warm if you sit on it for three years.”
Word for wordThree years, even on a stone.
The meaning
Results sometimes take time. Constancy ends up transforming a situation that seemed frozen, the way body heat eventually warms the coldest stone.
At the origin
A traditional Japanese proverb, often quoted about work and learning: you stay, you persevere, and things ripen.
The characters
- 石 ishistone
- の noof (link)
- 上 uetop, upon
- に
- も
- 三年
のParticleLinks two words: possession or belonging, like “of”.
In practice
Keep working at what matters, even when progress seems invisible.
Themes
In the collections · Utsuroi