KANAE
064Japanese proverb ことわざ

早起きは三文の徳

Hayaoki wa sanmon no toku

“Early rising earns three coins of profit.”

The meaning

The morning gained pays little each time — three coins — but every day. Small regular head starts make great differences.

At the origin

The mon was small Edo change: the gain is modest, but real.

The characters

  1. 早起き hayaokiearly rising
  2. は watopic marker
  3. 三文
  4. の
  5. 徳

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

ParticleMarks the topic: what the sentence is about — “as for…”.

In practice

Give yourself twenty minutes of quiet morning before the world.

Themes

Similar proverbs

  1. 086 What happens twice will happen three times.
  2. 117 Standing, half a tatami; lying, one tatami.
  3. 194 Of the thirty-six stratagems, retreat is the finest.
  4. 250 Three in the morning, four at night.
  5. 252 The pen and the sword, both ways.

Related expressions

  1. 162 Gathering the rains of June, how swiftly flows the Mogami.
  2. 002 Fall seven times, rise eight.
  3. 185 Bringing back to life what seemed dead.
  4. 001 Even a stone grows warm if you sit on it for three years.

See also