155Japanese proverb ことわざ
若い時の苦労は買ってでもせよ
わかいときのくろうはかってでもせよWakai toki no kurō wa katte demo seyo
“The hardships of youth — buy them if you must.”
The meaning
Difficulties faced early build a capital nothing equals: endurance, resourcefulness, self-knowledge. What they cost in comfort they return in strength.
At the origin
An educational proverb, still much quoted in Japan.
The characters
- 若い wakaiyoung
- 時 tokitime
- の noof (link)
- 苦労
- は
- 買って
- でも
- せよ
のParticleLinks two words: possession or belonging, like “of”.
In practice
Choose the hard internship, the demanding assignment: it is a purchase, not a loss.