154Japanese proverb ことわざ
苦は楽の種
くはらくのたねKu wa raku no tane
“Hardship is the seed of joy.”
The meaning
Today's efforts are sowings: what costs now pays later. The reverse is true too — ease taken on credit gets repaid. Choosing your hardships is choosing your joys.
At the origin
An Edo proverb; the sequel says: "and joy is the seed of hardship".
The characters
- 苦 kuhardship
- は watopic marker
- 楽
- の
- 種
はParticleMarks the topic: what the sentence is about — “as for…”.
In practice
Accept one chosen difficulty today, in service of your future.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 084 楽あれば苦あり、苦あれば楽あり After ease comes hardship, after hardship comes ease.
- 290 やまとうたは、人の心を種として、万の言の葉とぞなれりける Japanese poetry has the human heart as its seed, from which grow myriad leaves of words.
- 200 人の一生は重荷を負うて遠き道を行くが如し A man's life is a long road walked under a burden; there is no need to hurry.
- 210 旅に病んで夢は枯野をかけ廻る Sick on a journey — my dreams go wandering still over withered fields.
- 269 花は折りたし梢は高し One longs to pick the flower, but the branch is high.