ProverbCommunicationKorean origin

백문이 불여일견 (Baengmuni bullyeoilgyeon)

Meaning: Seeing something for yourself beats hearing about it many times.

Literally: Hearing a hundred times is not like seeing once

Example: “사진으로만 보지 말고 직접 가 봐. 백문이 불여일견이야.” — Don't just look at photos, go and see it yourself: seeing is believing.

Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, and 2 more languages

  • English: A picture is worth a thousand words
  • French: Une image vaut mille mots (literally: An image is worth a thousand words)
  • Spanish: Una imagen vale más que mil palabras (literally: An image is worth more than a thousand words)
  • Japanese: 百聞は一見に如かず (Hyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu) (literally: Hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once)
  • German: Ein Bild sagt mehr als tausend Worte (literally: A picture says more than a thousand words)
  • Russian: Лучше один раз увидеть, чем сто раз услышать (Luchshe odin raz uvidet', chem sto raz uslyshat') (literally: Better to see once than hear a hundred times)
  • Chinese: 百闻不如一见 (Bǎi wén bù rú yí jiàn) (literally: A hundred hearings aren't worth one look)

Origin: The Korean reading of the Chinese 百聞不如一見, recorded in the Book of Han, where the general Zhao Chongguo asks to see the frontier for himself before planning a campaign.

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