How to Read “Even a high-flying bird dies for delicious food”
Takatobi no tori mo bishoku ni shisu
Meaning of “Even a high-flying bird dies for delicious food”
“Even a high-flying bird dies for delicious food” means that even talented people can destroy themselves if they give in to their desires.
A bird that can fly high should be able to stay in safe places. But when it sees delicious-looking food, it descends to dangerous ground and loses its life.
This proverb warns us about talented or high-ranking people who make poor judgments because of greed. They end up walking the path to their own destruction.
The more capable people are, the more they tend to overestimate their abilities and let their guard down. The thought “I’ll be fine” makes them less cautious about their desires.
Even today, we see examples everywhere. People in high positions commit fraud because of greed for money or power. Successful people lose everything by drowning in momentary pleasures.
High ability and self-control are two different things. In fact, the more capable you are, the stronger your willpower needs to be to control your desires. This is the lesson this proverb teaches us.
Origin and Etymology
The exact source of this proverb is unclear. However, we can learn interesting things from how the words are structured.
“High-flying bird” refers to a bird with superior abilities that can fly high. A bird that can fly high in the sky is naturally the furthest from dangers on the ground.
Hunter’s traps cannot reach it. Threats from beasts that crawl on the ground cannot touch a bird that flies high.
But even such a capable bird will fall into a trap and die if it descends to the ground, attracted by “delicious food.” This contrast is the heart of this proverb.
The ability to fly high versus the desire for delicious things. A being that should be able to stay in a safe place descends into danger on its own because greed blinds it.
Lessons using birds have existed since ancient times. Birds symbolize freedom. They also represent superior beings in high places beyond human reach, so they are often used as metaphors for excellent people.
This proverb likely came from observing that even such birds cannot resist appetite, the most basic desire. It contains a universal lesson about human society: the relationship between high ability and the danger of desire.
Usage Examples
- That excellent senior was driven from the company because he was blinded by money—truly “even a high-flying bird dies for delicious food”
- As they say, “even a high-flying bird dies for delicious food,” so now that I’m successful, I must be especially careful about my desires
Universal Wisdom
“Even a high-flying bird dies for delicious food” has been passed down through generations because it captures a fundamental human contradiction perfectly.
We humans work hard to develop our abilities and build secure positions. But ironically, that very secure position invites new dangers.
Why does this happen? Because success breeds carelessness. Just as a high-flying bird feels “I am safe,” capable people think “I’ll be fine.”
This psychological gap becomes the entrance for desire. Furthermore, the more successful you are, the more opportunities you have to access greater desires. With status comes more temptation.
The deep truth this proverb reveals is that ability and virtue are separate things. Even if you have the ability to fly high, without the power to control desire, that ability becomes a tool for self-destruction.
From ancient times to the present, many powerful people and successful individuals throughout history have repeated the same mistake.
Humans instinctively seek better things and more delicious food. This desire itself was necessary for survival.
However, in civilized society, this instinct sometimes becomes a trap that destroys us. Our ancestors saw through this human nature and left it as a warning for future generations.
We need the courage to face our own desires just as much as, or even more than, polishing our abilities.
When AI Hears This
The human brain perceives value differently depending on time to reward. For example, most people choose “10,000 yen today” over “11,000 yen in one year.”
But when offered “10,000 yen in 5 years” versus “11,000 yen in 6 years,” more people choose the latter. It’s the same one-year difference, yet people cannot resist when it’s right in front of them. This is called hyperbolic discounting.
What’s interesting is that individuals with more successful experiences show greater distortion. A high-flying bird has obtained food many times. Those success memories create the overconfidence that “I’ll be fine this time too.”
Behavioral economics experiments report that subjects who gained profits consecutively are about 2.3 times more likely to take risks in their next choice.
In other words, the more capable someone is, the more they perceive the value of immediate delicious food as several times its actual worth. They also underestimate the risk of traps to a fraction of reality.
What’s even more frightening is that the person cannot notice this distorted judgment. When the reward system activates in the brain, the prefrontal cortex’s inhibitory function weakens.
The moment they see delicious food, the rational danger prediction system physically turns off. The higher a bird can fly, the stronger its expectation of reward, so this switch flips more dramatically.
The structure of successful people’s downfall is not built into weakness of will, but into the brain’s design itself.
Lessons for Today
What this proverb teaches modern you is that you must not forget humility, especially when you succeed.
When you get promoted in your career, when your business gets on track, when you pass an exam. These moments when you are “flying high” are actually the most dangerous.
Specifically, three practices are important. First is regular self-examination. Take time to ask yourself, “Am I blinded by something right now?”
Second is the attitude of listening to frank opinions from people you trust. When you succeed, people around you find it harder to speak honestly. That’s exactly why you need the courage to actively seek harsh opinions.
Third is dealing with small desires. Before you lose to big temptations, practice controlling small daily desires.
Your abilities exist to protect you. To make the most of those abilities, you need the strength to face desire, your inner enemy.
To keep flying high, sometimes you must choose to keep flying even when you see delicious-looking food on the ground. That accumulation of choices leads to true success.
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