KANAE
194Japanese proverb ことわざ

三十六計逃げるに如かず

Sanjūrokkei nigeru ni shikazu

“Of the thirty-six stratagems, retreat is the finest.”

The meaning

When the situation is untenable, the wisest maneuver is to move out of reach, rebuild, and choose yourself the ground of the next attempt.

At the origin

A maxim from the Chinese treatises on strategy, absorbed into Japanese usage.

The characters

  1. 三十六計 sanjūrokkeithirty-six stratagems
  2. 逃げる nigerufleeing
  3. に
  4. 如かず

The complete word-by-word reading, in KANAE.

In practice

Before doubling down, ask whether the ground itself is the problem.

Editorial note

Chinese origin (treatises on strategy).

Themes

Similar proverbs

  1. 272 Learning calligraphy at sixty.
  2. 276 Iris on the sixth, chrysanthemum on the tenth: one day too late.
  3. 064 Early rising earns three coins of profit.
  4. 086 What happens twice will happen three times.
  5. 119 Too much is as bad as too little.

Related expressions

  1. 001 Even a stone grows warm if you sit on it for three years.
  2. 087 The third time is the charm.
  3. 250 Three in the morning, four at night.
  4. 253 Two people, three legs.

See also