268Japanese proverb ことわざ
腹が減っては戦ができぬ
はらがへってはいくさができぬHara ga hette wa ikusa ga dekinu
“An empty stomach fights no battle.”
The meaning
No willpower replaces the body's strength. Before great tasks, the simple needs: eating, sleeping, breathing — not wasted time, but the condition of all the rest.
At the origin
A soldiers' and farmers' proverb, quoted before effort.
The characters
- 腹 harastomach
- が ga(subject)
- 減って hettebeing empty
- は
- 戦
- が
- できぬ
がParticleMarks the subject: the one who does, or what is.
In practice
Before the hard task, tend the body first: meal, sleep, pause.