047Japanese proverb ことわざ
芸は身を助ける
げいはみをたすけるGei wa mi o tasukeru
“A skill always ends up helping.”
Word for wordArt helps the person.
The meaning
No skill is superfluous. What we learn out of taste, even without a goal, one day becomes an unexpected support.
At the origin
A traditional proverb encouraging people to cultivate even modest talents.
The characters
- 芸 geiskill, art
- は watopic marker
- 身
- を
- 助ける
はParticleMarks the topic: what the sentence is about — “as for…”.
In practice
Keep up that "useless" little skill: it will serve you one day.