[For Elementary School Students] A Four-Choice Proverb Quiz Recommended for Kids

Turn around

The proverb “More haste, less speed” means that sometimes a detour is necessary if you want to reach your destination as quickly as possible. When you’re in a hurry, you tend to choose the shortest route even if it involves some risk. But the lesson that it’s more reliable to take the safer, even if longer, path applies not only to physical travel but also to work and study—making it a more efficient approach overall. It’s a guideline well worth remembering.

heart

The proverb “oya no kokoro ko shirazu” means that a parent’s love and concern for their child often go unappreciated. Parents worry about their children no matter how old they get, while the children themselves, as they grow, naturally seek to live freely. Becoming independent is a joyful milestone, but this saying also conveys a wish for children to recognize the unseen worries and support their parents provide behind the scenes.

Buddha

There’s a proverb that means “sometimes you’re happier not knowing”: shiranu ga hotoke, literally “not knowing is Buddha.” It teaches that if you remain unaware, you won’t feel irritated, worried, or unsettled by certain things—an idea most of us can relate to to some extent. The saying advises us not to try to know everything, and to keep our distance from things that, even if we did learn about them, would only make us angry.

3

The proverb “Sannin yoreba Monju no chie” means that when three people gather, good ideas will come. Monju refers to Manjushri, the bodhisattva who presides over wisdom. The lesson is that even ordinary people, by pooling their wisdom, can match a bodhisattva—so let’s cooperate. It teaches that the more people think together, the more objectively and from multiple angles things can be seen. However, be careful: there’s also the proverb “Sendō ōkushite fune yama ni noboru” (“Too many captains steer the boat up a mountain”), meaning that having too many people giving directions can backfire and undermine leadership.

the open sea

The proverb that means having a narrow perspective, “A frog in a well knows nothing of the great ocean.” It’s a lesson that the frog, who knows only the world inside its small well, is unaware that there is a vast sea outside. It cynically describes people who, confined to their own knowledge and experience, think they know everything. It’s a famous saying that teaches the importance of learning about the wider world if you want to grow.