How to Read “Waiting for luck is equal to waiting for death”
Un wo matsu wa shi wo matsu ni hitoshi
Meaning of “Waiting for luck is equal to waiting for death”
“Waiting for luck is equal to waiting for death” means that simply waiting for good fortune to arrive will get you nowhere. You’ll only waste precious time.
The proverb contains a harsh teaching. Leaving everything to luck without taking action isn’t really living. It’s the same as waiting for death.
This saying is used for people who passively wait for chances to come. It also applies to those who expect success to fall into their laps without effort.
Luck is certainly an important element in life. But if you only wait for it without taking action, your life stagnates. There will be no growth or success.
Even today, this proverb warns people who dream of winning the lottery but do nothing else. It cautions those who just wait for someone to help them.
You can attract luck by taking action. But if you only wait, you keep losing time—your most precious resource.
Origin and Etymology
No definite records remain about the clear source or origin of this proverb. However, we can make interesting observations from the structure of the phrase.
The expression connects “waiting for luck” and “waiting for death” with the word “equal.” This creates an extremely logical and contrasting structure.
It equates waiting for uncertain good fortune with waiting for certain death. This creates a powerful warning.
The concept of “luck” has existed in Japan since ancient times. People believed luck was both something granted from heaven and something you could attract through your own actions.
Merchants in the Edo period said “luck is also part of ability.” Yet they warned against relying on luck alone.
This proverb probably originated in the world of merchants and craftsmen who valued practical wisdom. They knew from experience that success never comes without daily effort.
Those who only wait for luck take no action. Time simply passes them by until they reach the end of their lives. This is no different from waiting for death.
The proverb contains a harsh but accurate view of life.
Usage Examples
- Just waiting for good job postings during your job hunt means waiting for luck is equal to waiting for death, so reach out to companies yourself
- Just waiting for the situation to improve someday means waiting for luck is equal to waiting for death, so I decided to start with what I can do now
Universal Wisdom
Humans have a strange psychology. We tend to expect good things to come to us rather than taking action ourselves.
Why? Because action carries the risk of failure. Waiting seems to have no failure.
But this proverb confronts us with a truth. Waiting itself is the greatest failure.
Time flows mercilessly while you wait. Youth, opportunities, possibilities—all are lost with time.
Throughout history, humans have sought comfort in concepts like fate and destiny. We justify our inaction by thinking our life isn’t going well because of bad luck. We tell ourselves luck will turn around someday.
However, wise people with long life experience have realized something. Luck isn’t something you wait for. You can only encounter it by moving yourself.
Luck appears before those who take action. A life spent only waiting is the same as being dead while alive.
This proverb continues to convey this harsh but loving truth about life to us.
When AI Hears This
From an information theory perspective, waiting for luck is a state of acquiring zero information. Consider someone looking for a job but not searching versus someone applying to ten companies daily.
The uncertainty for the waiting person never changes over time. Meanwhile, the active person gains new information every day—interview responses, industry trends. They narrow down their options.
Claude Shannon, the founder of information theory, defined information as “the reduction of uncertainty.” In other words, without action, information remains at zero.
Actually, your options keep decreasing as time passes. Waiting in your twenties differs from waiting in your forties. The latter has narrower possibilities.
What’s more interesting is that information gained through action increases exponentially. Information from one action improves the quality of the next action, attracting even better information.
This is the phenomenon of accelerating information entropy reduction. Conversely, continued waiting makes this compound effect work negatively.
Without information, you can’t take appropriate action. This prevents you from gaining more information. You fall into a vicious cycle.
In physics, the state of maximum entropy is called “heat death.” Waiting for luck is the act of bringing your life system closer to this state.
Actively seeking information is the only way to resist this flow.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people the importance of taking initiative in life. We scroll through social media envying others’ success. We browse job sites without taking action. We postpone things saying “when I have time someday.”
Modern society overflows with “pseudo-actions” that make us feel like we’re doing something.
But what truly matters is taking small, concrete steps. You don’t need to wait for the perfect timing. Just start with small things you can do today.
If you want to study for a certification, open the textbook. For relationships, start with greetings. If you have a dream, try talking to someone about it.
Such small actions become magnets that attract luck.
Your life keeps moving forward even while you wait. If you have regrets, they’ll be about not trying, not about failing.
Don’t wait for luck. Become someone who takes actions that make luck want to visit you. You are the protagonist of your own life.
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