KANAE
178Japanese proverb ことわざ

義を見てせざるは勇なきなり

Gi o mite sezaru wa yū naki nari

“To see what is right and not do it is to lack courage.”

The meaning

Courage is not first about danger, but about coherence: doing what you know is right, even when looking away would be easier.

At the origin

A saying from the Analects of Confucius, much quoted in Japanese ethics, notably in the martial arts.

The characters

  1. 義 githe right
  2. を o(object)
  3. 見て miteseeing
  4. せざる
  5. は
  6. 勇
  7. なき
  8. なり

The complete word-by-word reading, in KANAE.

ParticleMarks the object: what the action falls upon.

In practice

The right thing you can see to do: simply do it.

Editorial note

Classical Chinese origin (Analects of Confucius).

Themes

Similar proverbs

  1. 063 Even unfed, the samurai holds his toothpick high.
  2. 082 In my deeds, I know no regret.
  3. 202 Calm and equal to oneself, whatever happens.
  4. 018 Hearing a hundred times is not worth seeing once.
  5. 062 People are not what they seem.

Related expressions

  1. 089 Watch others' conduct and mend your own.
  2. 111 Should we look at blossoms only in full bloom, at the moon only when it is clear?
  3. 263 What remains unseen is the flower.
  4. 292 Coming out upon Tago Bay, I see: on Fuji's high peak, white, the snow still falling.

See also