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燕雀安んぞ鴻鵠の志を知らんや. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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Japanese
Etymology
From the 史記 (Shiki, “Records of the Grand Historian”).
Calque of Literary Chinese 燕雀安知鴻鵠志 (yànquè ān zhī hónghú zhì, literally “ swallows and sparrows cannot understand the aspirations of swans”).
Proverb
燕雀安んぞ鴻鵠の志を知らんや • (enjaku izukunzo kōkoku no kokorozashi o shiran'ya)
- an ordinary person cannot understand the ambitions of a great man
Derived terms
References
- ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (1995), 大辞泉 (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN