Collection
Korean proverbs on learning and growth
Traditional Korean sayings with English renderings, original explanations, and dictionary references. These sayings describe life from different perspectives; not all are advice to follow literally.
Collection
Traditional Korean sayings with English renderings, original explanations, and dictionary references. These sayings describe life from different perspectives; not all are advice to follow literally.

You do not notice your clothes getting wet in a drizzle.

Earn like a dog and spend like a high official.

Trying to run before learning to walk.

You must chew meat to know its taste.

Those who have eaten meat know how to eat it.

Enduring hardship as often as eating meals.

Buying hardship for yourself.

Stagnant water goes bad.

The former official was the capable one.

A rolling stone gathers no moss.

Above one who crawls is one who flies.

Seeing the trees but missing the forest.

The bond of raising is stronger than the bond of birth.

You must open your eyes to see the stars.

Having tasted both sweet and bitter.

Whipping a horse already running.

Measuring the heights of acorns.

Keep close to ink and you turn black.

A loach has become a dragon.

Where the needle goes, the thread follows.

Hearing a hundred times is less than seeing once.

Roasting beans in a flash of lightning.

Listen to your parents, and rice cakes may arrive even in your sleep.

Know a person by experience and water by crossing it.