104Japanese proverb ことわざ
山高きが故に貴からず
やまたかきがゆえにたっとからずYama takaki ga yue ni tattokarazu
“A mountain is not noble because it is tall.”
The meaning
Worth lies not in size, title or shine, but in what a thing carries: the mountain matters for its trees, the person for their deeds.
At the origin
A maxim from the Jitsugokyō, an elementary primer read for centuries in Japan; the full verse praises the mountain for its trees.
The characters
In practice
Judge — and build — on substance, not on displayed heights.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 212 山路来て何やらゆかしすみれ草 Mountain path — something quietly moving: a wild violet.
- 214 梅が香にのつと日の出る山路かな Plum blossom scent — and suddenly the sun appears on the mountain path.
- 218 雲の峰幾つ崩れて月の山 How many cloud peaks have crumbled away — and here, the mountain under the moon.
- 234 分け入っても分け入っても青い山 However deep I go, and deeper still — blue mountains.
- 292 田子の浦にうち出でて見れば白妙の富士の高嶺に雪は降りつつ Coming out upon Tago Bay, I see: on Fuji's high peak, white, the snow still falling.