How to Read “You can’t cry over a child you don’t have”
Nai ko de wa nakarenu
Meaning of “You can’t cry over a child you don’t have”
“You can’t cry over a child you don’t have” is a proverb that means you cannot create something from nothing. It expresses the truth that without a foundation or starting material, nothing new can ever emerge.
This proverb is used when emphasizing the importance of preparation and groundwork. For example, it applies when pointing out that good ideas cannot emerge without knowledge, businesses cannot start without capital, or results cannot be achieved without effort.
In modern times, people understand this expression as a way to convey the importance of necessary preparation and foundation-building to those starting something new.
Dreams and goals alone are not enough. This proverb teaches us clearly that we need to gather the concrete materials and conditions to make them real. It offers a harsh but realistic lesson: imagination alone cannot move reality.
Origin and Etymology
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Usage Examples
- If you want to take the certification exam, you need to learn the basics first—you can’t cry over a child you don’t have
- It’s good to talk about your dream of starting a business, but you can’t cry over a child you don’t have, so let’s make a financial plan first
Universal Wisdom
Behind the proverb “You can’t cry over a child you don’t have” lies a history of repeated failures and learning that humanity has experienced. We are creatures who sometimes seek results while neglecting preparation.
Dreaming is wonderful. However, one of humanity’s fundamental weaknesses is confusing wishes with reality.
We focus only on “wanting to be this way” while overlooking the actual path to get there. This proverb reflects the wisdom of ancestors who understood this human tendency.
What’s interesting is that this proverb is not simply negative—it actually contains hope. In reverse, it means that if you have the “child,” the foundation, you can create something from it.
Nothing comes from nothing, but something can come from something. This truth is the fundamental principle by which humanity has built civilization.
Our ancestors warned against impatient hearts and captured the value of steady preparation in these few words. It still shows the universal path to success that remains unchanged today.
When AI Hears This
Claude Shannon, founder of information theory, defined information as “the reduction of uncertainty.” In other words, the essence of information is the “unknowingness” that decreases when we learn something.
But this proverb points to a more fundamental problem. The situation of not having a child is not about uncertainty—it’s a state where “the measurement target itself does not exist.”
Consider a thermometer that measures temperature. Whether the temperature is high or low is a matter of uncertainty. But if the place to put the thermometer doesn’t exist in space, measurement itself cannot happen.
Information theory usually deals with the uncertainty of “not knowing what message will come.” This proverb shows a zero state where “the transmitter that sends the message doesn’t exist at all.”
Even more interesting is the relationship with the lower limit of entropy. Information entropy can theoretically drop to zero, which means “a completely certain state.”
But something that doesn’t exist has zero certainty and zero uncertainty—a state before entropy. It’s not even registered in information space.
It’s physically impossible for a crying sound to occur. But even the possibility that “crying might happen” cannot exist as information. This is a state of “nothingness” before observation, perfectly expressed in everyday language.
Lessons for Today
What this proverb teaches us living in modern times is the importance of preparation and investment. In an age where anyone can broadcast on social media, empty information overflows everywhere.
But if you want to create something truly valuable, you first need to nurture the “child” within yourself.
It might be knowledge. It might be experience. It could be connections, capital, or skills.
Whatever you aim for, you cannot skip the process of steadily building the foundation.
Modern society tends to seek instant results. But this proverb gives us a chance to stop and think.
What is the “child” you need to achieve the results you want now? What can you do starting today to obtain it?
There’s no need to rush. What matters is making steady progress in your preparation, one step at a time.
That accumulation will eventually become the source that produces the “crying voice” of great achievement.
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