What is your 座右の銘?

Japanese Language
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Hello! I’m relatively new here, but I haven’t been able to find a thread about 座右の銘 (favorite motto), so I thought I would create one. I have been asked a couple of times about what mine is during self introductions, and I never had a good answer. So what is your 座右の銘?

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Well, I have a few.

One everyone knows, which is apparently even in Jisho, would be:

浮世は夢
時が解決する
これもやがて過ぎ去る
これもいつかは過ぎ去るもの
これもまた過ぎ行くことなのさ

This too shall pass. / Life is but a dream. / Time will solve it.

Another one I have for myself, would be:

誰もがやりたい事が出来る

Everyone can do what they want.

A joke one would probably be:

水は要らない、ビールだけが必要
:beer:

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Thanks for the examples! I especially like the last one, although I won’t be able to use it with my students :rofl:

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Well, you could also make it about something else, which was actually how it was originally said, back in highschool:

水は要らない、紅茶だけが必要

I do drink like two bottles of tea while teaching…

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諸行無常(しょぎょうむじょう) - “all worldly things are impermanent”

No matter how hard things seem in the moment, it’s comforting to know that even the bad things eventually come to an end (at least that’s how I’m interpreting it).

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I don’t care for the message of this one, but I think it’s funny

女心と秋の空

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“Do your reviews.”

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“Don’t eat the yellow snow”

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負ければ死が待っている

Probably only useful for anime protagonists and football coaches. :wink:

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良薬は口に苦し

I’ve always liked the above since I first heard it. Think someone mentioned it in a Youtube video I was watching sometime back.

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“git gud”.

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グッドにならないと駄目
:wink:

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Those magic words were a lie… I’m still a nooby gamer.

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Probably my two favorites (they’re more like quotes):

  1. 日本語のクラスに死に行きます - “I go to Japanese class to die”

  2. Rei Todoroki’s iconic line from the first few seconds of this Deku vs Todoroki video. - “Its okay to become who you want to be.”

(To me it sounds like she’s saying 「なりたい自分になっていんだよ」 but Google Translate is giving me a funky translation. What do y’all think?)

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To me it sounds like 「なりたい自分になっていいんだよ」

It’s another form of the Xてもいい grammar point, which gives permission “It’s okay to do X/You can/may do X.”

Also, Google Translate is often quite bad; DeepL is a much better resource if you need to use a translator. (Fwiw, DeepL translates my version as, “You can be who you want to be,” which is basically a rephrasing of the subtitles in that video.)

As for a motto, one I came across a while back made me smile, and I enjoy it quite a bit (though it’s always hard to pick favorites for this type of thing):

口は災いの元

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I’m fond of 石の上にも三年 and 七転び八起き.

They mean “Patience pays off” (Three years on top of it will make even a stone warm) and “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” Both are indispensable when learning a language.

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I came across this one, which feels quite nice.

  • 虚仮(こけ)の一心(いっしん)
    • If he puts his mind to it, even a fool can succeed.
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Now, I just have to link this one. I like it, and exactly describe the linked topic.

chiri is dust
tsumoreba is if piled up

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It can’t be helped, but it is true.

寄(よ)らば大樹(たいじゅ)の陰(かげ)。

Otherwise,

忙中閑(ぼうちゅうかん)あり。

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