002Japanese proverb ことわざ
七転び八起き
ななころびやおきNana korobi ya oki
“Fall seven times, rise eight.”
Word for wordSeven falls, eight risings.
The meaning
Failure is not an end but a passage. What defines a person is not how many times they fall, but the way they stand back up — one more time than fate.
At the origin
One of Japan's best-known proverbs, a popular emblem of tenacity.
The characters
In practice
After a setback, give yourself the right to start again tomorrow.
Themes
In the collections · Nanakorobi