KANAE
300Japanese quotation 名言

初心の花を忘るべからず

Shoshin no hana o wasuru bekarazu

“Do not forget the flower of your beginnings.”

Attributed to Zeami · Muromachi

The meaning

Zeami distinguishes several "beginnings" in a life: that of youth, that of each age, that of old age. Each stage has its first flower — and the duty to remember it.

At the origin

The development of the "first heart" precept in Zeami's treatises on Noh.

The characters

  1. 初心 shoshinbeginner's heart
  2. の noof (link)
  3. 花 hanaflower
  4. を
  5. 忘る
  6. べからず

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

ParticleLinks two words: possession or belonging, like “of”.

In practice

Your current stage also has its beginning: note what is new and fragile in it.

Themes

In the collections · Fude

Similar proverbs

  1. 015 Never forget the beginner's spirit.
  2. 101 Over the moon, gathering clouds; over blossoms, wind.
  3. 168 Field of rapeseed — the moon in the east, the sun in the west.
  4. 170 Once past the throat, the burn is forgotten.
  5. 175 Blossoms last seven days.

Related expressions

  1. 133 Carry your first resolve through to the end.
  2. 217 First winter rain — the monkey too seems to wish for a little straw coat.
  3. 055 The child does not know the parent's heart.
  4. 091 If the fish loves the water, the water will love the fish.

See also