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

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: pisin kin 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

a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

English

Etymology

Proverb

Translations

See also