How to Read “A horse that looks up to a fine steed is also a horse worth riding”
Ki wo koinegau no uma mo mata ki no jō nari
Meaning of “A horse that looks up to a fine steed is also a horse worth riding”
This proverb means that people who admire excellent individuals and try to get closer to them will also become excellent themselves. It also reflects the idea that “birds of a feather flock together.” People with high aspirations naturally gather around others with similar goals.
You can use this saying when you see someone learning from a person they respect. It also fits when you want to praise people who push each other to improve. The proverb emphasizes more than just copying excellent people.
It highlights the active attitude of truly admiring them and working hard to reach their level. Through this effort, you grow as a person.
Today, this teaching applies when explaining the importance of having mentors. It also shows the value of staying close to people who embody what you want to become. The proverb contains a deep insight: the very act of admiring excellent people becomes the driving force that makes you excellent too.
Origin and Etymology
This proverb is believed to come from ancient Chinese classics. “Ki” refers to a legendary horse that could run a thousand ri (about 2,500 miles) in a single day. Since ancient times, such horses have symbolized outstanding talent and exceptional people.
“Nozomu” is an old word meaning to yearn for or admire something deeply.
The background of this proverb likely lies in the philosophy of talent recruitment during China’s Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Back then, people widely believed that excellent rulers attracted excellent people. The teaching suggests that horses striving to become like the legendary ki will eventually become horses worth riding themselves.
In other words, those who continue to admire excellent people will become excellent themselves.
“Mata ki no jō nari” uses “jō” to mean a mount or a horse worth riding. Here it represents becoming an existence equal to the ki, an excellent horse. The proverb cleverly uses horses, familiar animals, to express the essence of human relationships.
It shows how people who share the same aspirations attract each other and help each other grow. This proverb came to Japan along with Chinese classics. It has been passed down as words teaching the importance of striving to become excellent.
Interesting Facts
The legendary horse “ki” in this proverb was said to be discovered by Bole, a famous expert in evaluating horses in ancient China. No matter how excellent a horse might be, it would remain undiscovered without someone who could recognize its value.
This lesson led to the idiom “Bole’s glance,” which teaches the importance of discovering talent. The idea here forms the foundation of this proverb: to admire excellent people, you first need the eye to recognize excellence.
“Nozomu” is rarely used in modern Japanese. However, in classical literature, it was a dignified expression showing strong admiration, meaning “to look up to” or “to yearn for.” It was chosen to express not just simple admiration but a deep desire from the bottom of one’s heart.
It conveys the profound wish to truly respect someone and want to become like them.
Usage Examples
- The students gathering in that research lab are all excellent, but “a horse that looks up to a fine steed is also a horse worth riding”—they’ll all become first-rate while studying under that renowned professor
- His success came not just from talent but from continuing to admire the industry’s top figures since his youth; “a horse that looks up to a fine steed is also a horse worth riding” really says it well
Universal Wisdom
The universal wisdom this proverb shows is the truth that human growth is never an isolated endeavor. We improve ourselves through the process of admiring someone, aspiring to be like them, and trying to get closer to them.
The very heart that aims for excellent people has the power to transform that person into someone excellent.
Why has this teaching been passed down through the ages? It’s because humans instinctively have the desire to “become better,” and at the same time, we have the social nature of “wanting to be with others.” When these two desires combine, people grow the most.
Admiring excellent people is not mere imitation. It’s a deep learning process of absorbing their values, attitudes, and ways of thinking into yourself.
This proverb also has the aspect of “birds of a feather flock together.” People with high aspirations naturally gather around others with high aspirations. They create relationships where they stimulate and elevate each other. This is a natural law in human society, an unchanging truth across all times and places.
Our ancestors deeply understood that people are nurtured by their environment and shaped by the companions they walk with. That’s why they taught that the choice of who to admire and who to walk with determines a person’s life.
When AI Hears This
The act of looking up to a fine steed actually contains a double information update. Normally, we only notice the one-way flow of information called “observing something excellent.” However, from a Bayesian inference perspective, the act of observation itself also updates information about the observer.
For example, when we learn that a certain horse looked up to a fine steed, we unconsciously change our evaluation of that horse. This is because the choice behavior of “what to select as an observation target” is itself a powerful signal showing the observer’s cognitive ability and value judgment.
What statisticians call posterior probability updating happens simultaneously to both the observer and the observed.
What’s even more interesting is that this update process actually affects real abilities as an observer effect. Cognitive psychology research shows that subjects who set high goals improve both their self-evaluation and actual performance through the very act of setting those goals.
In other words, the observation act of “looking up to a fine steed” becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that transforms the observer into “a horse worth riding.”
This proverb captures the bidirectionality and creativity that the act of observation possesses, in a structure similar to the observation problem in quantum mechanics. The upward gaze transforms the one who gazes upward.
Lessons for Today
What this proverb teaches us today is the importance of choosing “who to admire” for your own growth. The small daily choices of who to follow on social media, what communities to join, and who to spend time with are actually shaping your future.
What matters is finding someone you can truly respect and making the effort to get closer to that person. They don’t need to be famous. They can be someone nearby who makes you think, “I want to be like that.”
Through the process of observing, learning from, and incorporating that person’s way of thinking and behavior in your own way, you yourself will change.
And the attitude of admiring excellent people also brings encounters with companions who have similar aspirations. By walking together with people who share your goals, you can reach heights you couldn’t reach alone.
Starting today, think of one person you truly respect. What can you do now to get even a little closer to that person? That one step will be the beginning of what leads you to become someone excellent.
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