a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

English

Etymology

Calque of Chinese 千里之行，始於足下／千里之行，始于足下 (qiānlǐ zhī xíng, shǐyú zú xià), quoted by the Chinese philosopher Laozi (circa 604 BCE - circa 531 BCE) in the Tao Te Ching, chapter 64. Sometimes this quote is erroneously attributed to Laozi's contemporary, Confucius (circa 551 BCE - circa 479 BCE), founder of Confucianism.

Proverb

a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

1. Even the longest and most difficult ventures have a starting point.

Translations

a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Arabic: رِحْلَة اَلْأَلْف مِيل تَبْدَأ بِخَطْوَة وَاحِدَة‎ (riḥlatu 'l-ʾalf mīl tabdaʾ bi-ḵaṭwa wāḥida) Chinese: Cantonese: 千里之行，始於足下, 千里之行，始于足下 (cin1 lei5 zi1 hang4, ci2 jyu1 zuk1 haa6) Mandarin: 千里之行，始於足下 (zh), 千里之行，始于足下 (zh) (qiānlǐ zhīxíng, shǐyú zúxià) Czech: cesta dlouhá tisíc mil začíná jedním krokem Dutch: een reis van duizend mijlen begint met een enkele stap Esperanto: milmejla vojaĝo komenciĝas per unu paŝo Estonian: tuhande miiline rännak algab esimesest sammust Finnish: pisinkin matka alkaa yhdellä askeleella French: un voyage de mille lieues commence toujours par un premier pas German: eine Reise von tausend Meilen beginnt mit dem ersten Schritt Greek: ένα ταξίδι χιλίων μιλίων ξεκινά με ένα μόνο βήμα (éna taxídi chilíon milíon xekiná me éna móno víma) Hebrew: גם מסע של אלף מייל מתחיל בצעד אחד קטן‎ Hindi: हजार कोसों का सफर भी एक पैर उठाने से ही शुरू होता है (hajār kosõ kā saphar bhī ek pair uṭhāne se hī śurū hotā hai) Hungarian: az ezer mérföldes utazás is egyetlen lépéssel kezdődik Italian: un viaggio di mille miglia comincia con il primo passo Japanese: 千里の道も一歩より始まる (せんりのみちもいっぽよりはじまる, senri no michi mo ippo yori hajimaru)

Korean: 천리 길도 첫걸음부터 (cheolli gildo cheotgeoreumbuteo), 천마일 길도 첫걸음부터 (cheonmail gildo cheotgeoreumbuteo) Lithuanian: tūkstančio mylių kelionė prasideda žengus vieną žingsnį Norwegian: en vandring på tusen mil starter med ett enkelt skritt Polish: podróż tysiąca mil zaczyna się od jednego kroku Portuguese: uma viagem de mil milhas começa com um único passo Romanian: o călătorie de o mie de mile începe cu un singur pas Russian: путь в ты́сячу вёрст начина́ется с пе́рвого ша́га (ru) (putʹ v týsjaču vjórst načinájetsja s pérvovo šága) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: далеко путованје починје првим кораком Roman: daleko putovanje počinje prvim korakom Slovene: potovanje daleč se začne s prvim korakom Spanish: un viaje de mil millas comienza con un solo paso Tagalog: ang mahabang paglalakbay ay nagsimula sa isang hakbang Thai: หนทางไกลนับพันลี้เริ่มต้นจากก้าวแรก (hǒn taang glai náp pan líi rə̂əm dtôn jàak gâao rɛ̂ɛk) Turkish: binlerce kilometrelik yolculuk bile tek bir adımla başlar Ukrainian: шлях у ти́сячу миль почина́ється з одного́ кро́ку (šljax u týsjaču mylʹ počynájetʹsja z odnohó króku) Vietnamese: hành trình ngàn dặm bắt đầu từ một bước đi

See also

• Laozi