How to Read “Advice is worth five ryō, patience is worth ten ryō”
Goiken goryō, kannin jūryō
Meaning of “Advice is worth five ryō, patience is worth ten ryō”
This proverb teaches that patience has greater value than giving advice. While offering correct advice certainly has worth, holding back your emotions and showing patience is worth twice as much.
In human relationships, we often want to speak our minds. We want to point out mistakes, express complaints, or prove we’re right.
However, holding back and swallowing our words often brings better results in the end.
People use this proverb when they feel emotional or want to argue back. It helps them control themselves.
It’s also used to teach young people wisdom about relationships.
Even in modern society, this truth remains universal. At work or at home, when opinions clash, patience builds long-term trust better than damaging relationships with momentary emotions.
Origin and Etymology
No definite written records show the exact origin of this proverb. However, it likely spread among common people during the Edo period.
The use of specific amounts like “five ryō” and “ten ryō” suggests it came from merchant culture. This was when the money economy flourished in Edo-period Japan.
Five ryō was a substantial amount back then. One ryō equals tens of thousands of yen in modern value.
So five ryō would be over 100,000 yen, and ten ryō several hundred thousand yen. The proverb makes a very concrete comparison of values.
The Edo period followed the principle of “both parties at fault in a quarrel.” Both sides got punished regardless of who was right.
In such a society, enduring quietly had more practical value than insisting on being correct.
Common people lived in crowded row houses called nagaya. Maintaining smooth relationships was essential wisdom for daily life.
Using money as a clear metaphor shows the practical mindset of Edo commoners. They expressed life wisdom in ways everyone could understand.
Interesting Facts
Some say this proverb has a continuation. “Advice is worth five ryō, patience is worth ten ryō, pretending not to see is worth twenty ryō.”
This teaches an even higher level of wisdom. Sometimes deliberately ignoring a problem has the greatest value of all.
However, this continuation may have been added later by someone else.
The unit “ryō” in Edo times came from the weight of gold coins. One ryō coin contained about 15 grams of gold.
You could actually feel its weight in your hand. Using money amounts made abstract lessons feel concrete and real.
Usage Examples
- I wanted to argue with my boss’s unreasonable order, but I remembered “Advice is worth five ryō, patience is worth ten ryō” and silently obeyed
- My mother-in-law’s nagging annoyed me, but I told myself “Advice is worth five ryō, patience is worth ten ryō”
Universal Wisdom
Humans have a strong desire to be right. We want to correct mistakes and protest unfair treatment.
This feeling connects to human dignity and is very important. Yet this proverb has been passed down for centuries for a reason.
Our ancestors deeply understood that human society has complex truths that “rightness” alone cannot measure.
Speaking the truth has value. But what if it destroys relationships, breaks trust, and makes everyone unhappy?
Then what meaning does that truth have?
Humans are emotional creatures. Even when told something correct, we close our hearts if the timing or tone is wrong.
Patience being worth double doesn’t just glorify endurance. Controlling momentary emotions lets you achieve bigger goals.
It protects long-term relationships. It saves face for others and preserves your own dignity.
Most importantly, it maintains peace of mind.
This proverb sees both human weakness and strength. We have the weakness of becoming emotional easily.
But we also have the strength to control those emotions. Using that strength is true wisdom.
When AI Hears This
The value ratio “5 ryō : 10 ryō” in this proverb is surprisingly accurate psychologically.
Kahneman and Tversky’s prospect theory shows something interesting. Humans feel the pain of loss about 2 to 2.5 times stronger than the joy of gain.
Losing 10,000 yen hurts more than twice as much as gaining 10,000 yen feels good.
This proverb sets the value of “advice as benefit” at 5 and “patience as loss avoidance” at 10. The ratio is exactly 2 to 1.
Even more fascinating is how Edo people expressed this ratio using money. They used the concrete currency unit of ryō to quantify abstract emotional weight objectively.
Modern behavioral economists needed countless lab experiments to discover this loss aversion coefficient. Edo commoners figured it out just by observing daily life.
Edo people understood something through experience. The satisfaction from giving correct advice is less valuable than the trouble avoided by holding back anger.
The psychological value difference is about twice as large. They quantified the brain’s universal loss aversion tendency as folk wisdom.
This happened centuries before the Nobel Prize research. That fact is truly amazing.
Lessons for Today
Modern times emphasize values like “self-assertion is important” and “speak your mind.” That’s certainly true in some ways.
But this proverb teaches life wisdom from a different angle.
Today, anyone can easily share opinions on social media. That’s exactly why we should remember to pause before speaking.
Is that post really necessary? Will that counterargument improve the relationship?
Speaking the truth is easy. Holding back actually requires more courage and wisdom.
This doesn’t mean ignoring injustice. The important thing is developing the ability to judge when to speak up and when to let things go.
If you fight every battle with full force, your mind and body won’t last.
What truly matters in your life? You surely have relationships to protect and trust to build that matter more than momentary correctness.
This proverb gives us wisdom to choose long-term happiness over short-term satisfaction.
Sometimes patience brings peaceful calm to your own heart and your relationships with others.
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