093Japanese proverb ことわざ
亀の甲より年の功
かめのこうよりとしのこうKame no kō yori toshi no kō
“Better than the tortoise's shell, the merit of years.”
The meaning
Accumulated experience is a quiet but real wealth. Years give a knowledge that neither theory nor raw talent replaces.
At the origin
A pun between kō "shell" and kō "merit": the tortoise's longevity bows to human experience.
The characters
- 亀 kametortoise
- の noof (link)
- 甲 kōshell
- より
- 年
- の
- 功
のParticleLinks two words: possession or belonging, like “of”.
In practice
Consult someone with twenty more years of practice than you.