172Japanese proverb ことわざ
悪銭身に付かず
あくせんみにつかずAkusen mi ni tsukazu
“Ill-gotten money does not stay.”
Word for wordBad coins do not stick to the body.
The meaning
What comes without effort or honesty leaves as it came. Only what is earned straight attaches to a life and builds it.
At the origin
A proverb of popular economic morality.
The characters
In practice
Prefer the slow clean gain to the fast murky one.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 047 芸は身を助ける A skill always ends up helping.
- 100 安物買いの銭失い Buying cheap is losing your money.
- 158 身から出た錆 Rust comes from the blade itself.
- 251 粉骨砕身 Grinding one's bones, crushing one's body.
- 291 花の色は移りにけりないたづらに我が身世にふるながめせしまに The color of the flowers has faded, while I watched the long rains fall — and my life go by.