180Japanese idiom 四字熟語
千慮の一失
せんりょのいっしつSenryo no isshitsu
“In a thousand thoughts, one slip.”
The meaning
Even the wise err once in a thousand — and the simple, once in a thousand, are right. No one is infallible, no one negligible.
At the origin
An ancient Chinese maxim; its counterpart says: "in a fool's thousand thoughts, one find".
The characters
- 千慮 senryothousand thoughts
- の noof (link)
- 一失
のParticleLinks two words: possession or belonging, like “of”.
In practice
Double-check the surest person's view; listen to the quietest person's view.
Editorial note
Ancient Chinese origin (Records of the Grand Historian).
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 003 千里の道も一歩から A journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step.
- 079 千丈の堤も蟻の一穴から The tallest dike fails through an ant's hole.
- 237 千載一遇 One meeting in a thousand years.
- 088 聞くは一時の恥、聞かぬは一生の恥 To ask is a moment's shame; not to ask is a lifetime's shame.
- 117 起きて半畳、寝て一畳 Standing, half a tatami; lying, one tatami.