203Japanese idiom 四字熟語
独立独歩
どくりつどっぽDokuritsu doppo
“Standing on one's own, walking at one's own pace.”
The meaning
Thinking and advancing without waiting for anyone's approval. It is not refusing others — it is not handing them the rudder of your life.
At the origin
A four-character idiom praising independence of mind.
The characters
In practice
Make one decision today without asking anyone's permission.
Themes
Similar proverbs
Related expressions
- 171 火のない所に煙は立たぬ No smoke rises where there is no fire.
- 260 立て板に水 Water on an upright board.
- 294 智に働けば角が立つ。情に棹させば流される。意地を通せば窮屈だ。 Act on reason, and you grow sharp-cornered. Pole along feeling, and you are swept away. Force your will, and you are cramped. Decidedly, the human world is hard to live in.
- 302 一日一歩、三日で三歩 One step a day: in three days, three steps.