081Japanese quotation 名言
為せば成る、為さねば成らぬ、何事も
なせばなる、なさねばならぬ、なにごともNaseba naru, nasaneba naranu, nanigoto mo
“Act, and it will be done; do not act, and it will not — in all things.”
The meaning
Nothing happens by itself. This verse reminds us that the impossible is often the unattempted: what does not come to be is first what was never tried.
At the origin
A poem by lord Uesugi Yōzan (1751-1822), reformer of the Yonezawa domain, addressed to his successors.
The characters
In practice
Replace "it's impossible" with "I haven't tried it yet".