ProverbMorality
Japanese origin
Japanese origin桃李もの言わざれども下自ら蹊を成す (Tōri mono iwazaredomo shita mizukara komichi o nasu)
Meaning: True virtue attracts people without having to advertise itself.
Literally: Though the peach and plum trees say nothing, a path forms beneath them of itself
Example: “あの先生は宣伝しないのに、生徒が自然に集まる。桃李もの言わざれども下自ら蹊を成すだ。” — That teacher never advertises, yet students flock to him: good wine needs no bush.
Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and 3 more languages
English: Good wine needs no bush.
French: À bon vin, point d'enseigne (literally: Good wine needs no sign)
Spanish: Vino que es bueno no ha menester pregonero (literally: Good wine needs no crier)
German: Guter Wein bedarf keines Kranzes (literally: Good wine needs no wreath)
Italian: A buon vino non bisogna frasca (literally: Good wine needs no bush)
Dutch: Goede wijn behoeft geen krans (literally: Good wine needs no wreath)
Russian: Хороший товар сам себя хвалит (Khoroshiy tovar sam sebya khvalit) (literally: Good goods praise themselves)
Polish: Dobry towar sam się chwali (literally: Good goods praise themselves)
Origin: From Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, praising the general Li Guang, a man of few words whom soldiers followed: peach and plum trees say nothing, yet people wear a path beneath them.
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