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 B.C.E. - circa 531 B.C.E.) in the Tao Te Ching, chapter 64. Sometimes this quote is erroneously attributed to Laozi's contemporary, Confucius (circa 551 B.C.E. - circa 479 B.C.E.), 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.

Synonyms

• take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves
• many a mickle makes a muckle
• every little helps
• little and often fills the purse

Translations

a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

• Arabic: رِحْلَةُ اَلْأَلْفِ مِيلِ تَبْدَأُ بِخَطْوَةِ وَاحِدَةِ‎ (riḥlatu l-ʾalfi mīli tabdaʾu bi-ḵaṭwati wāḥidati)
• 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), 천리길도 한 걸음부터. (Cheolligildo han georeumbuteo.)
• 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