
ProverbWisdom
Japanese origin
神は細部に宿る (Kami wa saibu ni yadoru)
Meaning: Excellence comes from attention to the smallest details.
Literally: God resides in the details
Example: “最後の仕上げを丁寧にしよう。神は細部に宿るからね。” — Let's take care over the final touches: God is in the details.
Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, and German
English: The devil is in the details
French: Le diable est dans les détails (literally: The devil is in the details)
Spanish: El diablo está en los detalles (literally: The devil is in the details)
German: Der Teufel steckt im Detail (literally: The devil lurks in the detail)
Origin: A Western saying that came into Japanese. It is variously credited to the art historian Aby Warburg, the architect Mies van der Rohe or Flaubert, but none of these attributions has been confirmed.
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Colorful expressions from dozens of languages, with their word-for-word translations.
- 蛇足 (dassoku) Something completely unnecessary; a superfluous addition.
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- 杞憂 (Kiyū) Unnecessary worry about things that won't happen; baseless anxiety.
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