037Japanese proverb ことわざ
朱に交われば赤くなる
しゅにまじわればあかくなるShu ni majiwareba akaku naru
“Touch vermilion and you turn red.”
The meaning
Surroundings rub off. Habits, language, ambitions: we absorb what surrounds us, for better or worse, often without feeling it.
At the origin
A proverb inherited from the Chinese classics, common in Japan.
The characters
- 朱 shuvermilion
- に nito, toward
- 交われば
- 赤く
- なる
にParticleThe point of arrival: a place, a moment, a destination.
In practice
Deliberately surround yourself with what you want to rub off on you.
Editorial note
Classical Chinese origin.