How to Read “Fortune does not fill the eye, but misfortune overflows the world”
Fuku wa manajiri ni mitazu, wazawai wa yo ni afuru
Meaning of “Fortune does not fill the eye, but misfortune overflows the world”
This proverb expresses a harsh reality of life. Happiness never fully satisfies us, while disasters overflow in the world.
No matter how fortunate we are, humans cannot feel completely satisfied. We always sense something is missing. Fortune is so elusive that it cannot even fill the tiny space of the eye corner.
Meanwhile, misfortune and disaster exist so abundantly that they overflow throughout the world. No one can completely escape them.
This proverb points out the imbalance between happiness and unhappiness in life. It expresses a universal truth everyone experiences: the rarity of fortune and the commonness of disaster.
Even today, people use this saying to describe human psychology. We can’t feel satisfied even in blessed circumstances. It also captures how unexpected difficulties keep arriving in life.
Origin and Etymology
This proverb likely emerged under the influence of ancient Chinese philosophy. “Manajiri” means the corner of the eye, representing a very small space.
“Yo” (world) refers to the entire vast world. This contrasting structure forms the core of the proverb’s meaning.
In ancient China, philosophers deeply contemplated human happiness and unhappiness. Taoist and Buddhist thought especially emphasized the universality of suffering in life and the fleeting nature of happiness.
This proverb probably arose under the influence of such Eastern philosophy.
The word “mitsu” (to fill) describes a vessel becoming full. Fortune cannot fill even the small space of the eye corner. This means humans never feel completely satisfied.
In contrast, disaster is expressed with “afuru” (to overflow). This shows the harsh reality that misfortune exists so abundantly it overflows the world.
This expression doesn’t come from simple pessimism. It was born from an attitude of calmly facing life’s truth.
The proverb captures two universal truths in just a few characters. Human endless desire pursuing happiness, and the existence of unavoidable disaster. The wisdom of our ancestors contains deep insight.
Interesting Facts
The character “manajiri” (眥) is one of the difficult-to-read kanji rarely used in daily life. It combines the “eye” radical with “shi” (此).
Because it includes the meaning of “here” (pointing), it became a word indicating a specific part of the eye.
In classical literature, the eye corner appeared in expressions of anger or surprise. Phrases like “manajiri wo kessu” (to set one’s eye corners) showed it was an important body part for expressing emotion.
“Mitsu” (to fill) is a verb almost never used in modern Japanese. In classical language, it emphasized a state of being more completely filled than “michiru” (to become full).
It expressed the perfectly filled state just before water in a vessel overflows.
Usage Examples
- No matter how much you succeed, you always see the next goal. This is exactly what “Fortune does not fill the eye, but misfortune overflows the world” means.
- Happy periods never last long. Perhaps this is the truth of life, just as “Fortune does not fill the eye, but misfortune overflows the world” says.
Universal Wisdom
The truth this proverb speaks touches on a fundamental contradiction in human existence. We live seeking happiness, but that happiness never completely fills us.
This is because humans have an instinct to seek “more.” This endless desire has been the driving force that evolved humanity and developed civilization.
But at the same time, this trait places us in eternal dissatisfaction. No matter how blessed our situation, fortune is so elusive it cannot fill even the small space of the eye corner.
Meanwhile, misfortune overflows the world. Illness, accidents, conflicts, loss. Unavoidable difficulties arrive one after another in life.
This asymmetry explains why people have sought religion and philosophy since ancient times. Faced with the rarity of fortune and the universality of disaster, countless thinkers have searched for answers to how we should live.
This proverb shows the basic structure of life that forms the starting point of that question.
Our ancestors believed true wisdom comes from facing this harsh reality directly. Knowing that fortune never fills us helps us appreciate small joys.
Knowing that misfortune overflows helps us recognize the preciousness of peaceful days.
When AI Hears This
From a network theory perspective, good information and bad information have fundamentally different spreading structures. Good information has high “verification cost.”
For example, to trust the information “that restaurant’s food is delicious,” you need to actually go and eat there. The probability that someone who receives the information passes it to the next person (propagation rate) is low.
It spreads poorly across networks. Mathematically, when the propagation rate is below 1, information decays exponentially.
Bad information, however, spreads easily without verification. A rumor like “food poisoning happened at that restaurant” gets shared before checking if it’s true.
This happens because loss aversion bias kicks in: “What if it’s really dangerous?” When the propagation rate exceeds 1, cascade phenomena occur. If one person tells two people on average, it reaches 1,024 people in ten stages.
More importantly, networks contain “weak ties” that connect distant groups. Bad information crosses these bridges, invading other communities and spreading throughout the whole system.
The 2008 financial crisis is a classic example. Some housing loan problems collapsed the entire financial network. Fortune reaches only neighbors, but misfortune overflows the world.
This asymmetry is built into the mathematical structure of networks themselves.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people the importance of adjusting our expectations for happiness appropriately. Knowing that fortune is so fleeting it cannot fill even the eye corner, we won’t exhaust ourselves chasing perfect happiness.
Instead, we gain the mental space to notice small daily joys and cherish them.
Recognizing that misfortune overflows the world isn’t pessimism. It’s the courage to face reality directly. Living with the assumption that difficulties will come prepares our hearts for them.
When unexpected trouble strikes, we won’t lament “Why only me?” Instead, we develop the strength to accept it as “This is part of life too.”
In modern society, we see only others’ happy moments through social media. Our own lives can seem unhappy by comparison.
But as this proverb shows, no one is completely satisfied. The sense of incompleteness you feel is a natural human sensation.
With that understanding, appreciate the small happiness you have now. Face unavoidable difficulties with resolve. This proverb teaches us a realistic way of living that doesn’t lose hope.
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