none of us is as smart as all of us

Question

This proverb is attributed to an unknown Japanese author (http://thinkexist.com/quotation/none_of_us_are_as_smart_as_all_of/160488.html). However I could not find any mention of its actual origin.

Would anybody here be able to translate the sentence or its spirit? I would like to use it for a presentation at work.

This appears to be the following 名言: meigen-search.net/d/MQLkAGN5 — virmaior, Commented Apr 18, 2016 at 10:02
Hi @virmaior: thanks, looks good, can you post it as an answer so I can validate it? — Aki, Commented Apr 18, 2016 at 10:34
The page virmaior linked says it's from ミッチェル・ノラン, who seems to be a British judge in the 20th century. And according to this question, this proverb(?) seems to originate from Western countries somewhere in the 18-19th century. I doubt there is a Japanese traditional proverb which is widely recognized and can be directly translated to this, although there is a similar one. — naruto, Commented Apr 18, 2016 at 11:02
The attribution to Talleyrand in the English.SE answer seems most likely to be correct to me, since this doesn't sound as mellifluous in Japanese. — Avery, Commented Apr 18, 2016 at 11:04
This is probably another case of "not an actual Japanese proverb" :-( — user1478, Commented Apr 18, 2016 at 14:14

naruto · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-22 00:34:08Z

3

I think 三人寄れば文殊の知恵 (lit. "If three people gather, the wisdom of Monju (is achieved)") is the closest proverb in Japanese.

I'm not aware of any Japanese set phrase that can literally translate to "None of us are as smart as all of us".

answered Aug 22, 2016 at 0:34

naruto

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