How to Read “A short-tempered person breaks things”
kanshaku mochi no koto yaburi
Meaning of “A short-tempered person breaks things”
This proverb warns that people who lose their temper easily tend to fail at things. When you get emotional and explode in anger, you lose the ability to think clearly. This ruins the work or plans you’ve been carefully building.
People use this saying when someone fails because they got emotional. It’s also used when you feel yourself getting angry and need to practice self-control.
You can also use it to gently warn short-tempered people that their personality will cause them problems.
This proverb shares the same meaning as “A short temper is a disadvantage.” Both teach that losing control of your emotions ultimately hurts you.
Even today, emotional reactions make problems worse in business and relationships. This proverb reminds us how important it is to stay calm in such situations.
Origin and Etymology
We don’t know exactly when this proverb first appeared in writing. However, based on how it’s structured, scholars believe it came from everyday life during the Edo period as a teaching phrase.
The word “kanshaku” (short temper) originally comes from traditional Chinese medicine. In that system, doctors believed that blocked energy flow in the body caused sudden emotional outbursts, which they called “kan.”
People especially used this term for children who suddenly cried or got excited. They called it “the worm of kan.” This shows how the word came to mean losing emotional control.
“Koto yaburi” literally means “breaking things” or ruining matters. During the Edo period’s merchant culture, people likely shared this as practical wisdom. They knew that getting emotional during business deals caused losses.
In the world of craftsmen, rushing or getting angry led to mistakes with tools. This ruined their careful work. Such everyday failures taught people the importance of emotional control.
This proverb spread among common people as a simple way to express how a short temper leads to failure. It represents the wisdom of ordinary people.
Usage Examples
- He’s talented, but “a short-tempered person breaks things” – he always fails at the final stage
- You had such a great opportunity, but you got angry and walked out. That’s exactly “a short-tempered person breaks things”
Universal Wisdom
“A short-tempered person breaks things” has been passed down because it speaks to the eternal struggle between human emotion and reason. No matter how much we develop our intelligence, we remain beings who can be controlled by the powerful force of emotion.
Anger originally came from our survival instinct to protect ourselves. When we sense danger or unfair treatment, our minds automatically flip the anger switch.
However, this primitive response system doesn’t always work well in our complex modern society. Instead, these instant emotional explosions destroy our long-term benefits and relationships.
What’s interesting is that people feel “completely right” in moments of anger. When emotions run high, we feel our judgment is totally justified.
But when time passes and we calm down, we almost always regret not controlling our emotions in that moment.
This proverb shows the deep insight our ancestors had into human nature. Emotions are temporary, but their consequences last long.
A moment of anger can destroy what took years to build. Our ancestors condensed this universal truth into a short phrase and continue to pass it down to us.
When AI Hears This
When someone loses their temper, massive amounts of energy discharge chaotically in the human brain. This is a rapid increase in entropy, a concept from thermodynamics. Entropy measures “the degree of disorder.” In nature, things only move in the direction of increasing entropy. Cold coffee never spontaneously heats up – same principle.
A promise is actually a very low-entropy state. Multiple people’s actions align at a specific time and place. This is a highly ordered state. Maintaining this order requires continuous energy input.
Specifically, it needs the frontal cortex to suppress emotions. This means consuming energy in the form of self-control.
But when a temper tantrum occurs, the emotional brain regions go wild and release massive energy all at once. In this high-entropy state, the delicate ordered structure of a promise collapses instantly.
In physics, there’s irreversibility – destroying order is easy, but rebuilding it is difficult. You can mess up a room in seconds, but cleaning takes time.
So breaking promises is actually a natural phenomenon following physical laws. Conversely, keeping promises requires continuous energy input to resist entropy increase.
Short-tempered people break promises easily not just from weak willpower. It’s a physical phenomenon where emotional thermal runaway exceeds the cost of maintaining order.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people that managing emotions is the key to success. In an age when you can react instantly on social media, taking a breath has become more valuable than ever.
When you feel angry, don’t react immediately. First, take a deep breath. If you’re emotional when replying to emails or messages, sleep on it overnight.
This small habit will protect you from “breaking things.”
What’s important is that feeling anger isn’t bad. Emotions are natural. The problem is acting while controlled by those emotions.
When you feel angry, recognize it. Tell yourself, “I’m angry right now, so I might make a bad decision.” That awareness is the first step.
In modern society, people who can control their emotions earn trust and get important work. No matter how capable you are, if you get emotional and upset everyone around you, you won’t succeed long-term.
Transform the energy of anger inside you into constructive action instead of destruction. When you can do that, you become truly strong.
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