What's the English equivalent of the Japanese saying, “A fart ruins 100 days of sermons by the priest (bishop)”?

Question

I was amused by the expression "Paid a penny and only farted" (related by @FumbleFingers), which suggested a similar Japanese saying: 大山鳴動鼠一匹 - "Find only a small mouse coming out after hearing rumblings and experiencing shaking of the big mountain."

It’s humorous. I chuckled when I read it, and I wrote to the author that I love it.

With that said, the word "fart" reminds me of another Japanese proverb, 百日の説法屁一つ- "A fart ruins 100 days of sermons by the priest", which means that a small mistake (the sound of a fart in front of the congregation) brings all his efforts to naught.

It can’t happen in big Western churches. But it could well happen in a small wooden temple where a priest would preach to 30 – 50 provincial followers. Can you imagine how the proud priest being called 'the venerable' would be embarrased when his loud fart is heard by all his followers during his serious sermon and they start to giggle here and there in the hall?

We also have a similar saying" 九仞の功を一簣に欠く, which literally means "Collapse a 9- meter sand tower with the last pile of sand."

What is the English equivalent of the saying "A fart ruins 100 days of sermons by the priest (bishop): a small mistake depreciates the value of (vitiates) all labor and effort to naught," preferably in such a humorous way?

Answer 1

Although neither of these are common English idioms, I'm reminded of Benjamin Franklin's proverb:

It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.

or Warren Buffet's paraphrase:

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.

Both of these capture the laborious nature of the “100 sermons” in the Japanese original.

Answer 2

Maybe "One rotten apple spoils the barrel" is similar.

Answer 3

For want of a nail is a proverbial rhyme about how a seemingly trivial oversight can have far-reaching consequences.

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.

For want of a shoe the horse was lost.

For want of a horse the rider was lost.

For want of a rider the message was lost.

For want of a message the battle was lost.

For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Answer 4

One idiomatic expression is fly in the ointment.

For five centuries, 'a fly in the ointment' has meant a small defect that spoils something valuable or is a source of annoyance. The modern version [...] suggests that something unpleasant may come or has come to light in a proposition or condition that is almost too pleasing; that there is something wrong hidden, unexpected somewhere.

So as you see, the original meaning is pretty much the one you're looking for, but the current meaning is rather different, putting additional stress on the defect not having been apparent right from the start.

As the Wikipedia article mentions, the source is likely Ecclesiastes 10:1. In the King James version, the passage reads, "Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour."

In Russian, there's the expression "a spoon of tar ruins a barrel of honey", but I don't think I ever saw anything similar in English; I'd certainly remember it.

Answer 5

Ecclesiastes 10:1 (NASB)

Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.

EDIT:

Since there is such user demand, I'll explain what I assumed would be obvious.

"A fart ruins 100 days of sermons" should be directly analogous to "a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom", the fact that a fart may smell like a dead fly is certainly an added bonus.

Is this in common everyday usage: Not in this form, although I didn't see the OP ask for a common saying, and I figured being from what is likely the most widely distributed work of all time might make it familiar to at least a few well read English speakers.

Answer 6

I noticed in your question that you are looking for an answer that is not only current in English, but also humorous. So I'll elevate my comment to an answer:

"One 'ah, shit!' cancels one thousand 'attaboys'".

If you are unfamiliar with the terms, the exclamation "ah, shit!" (or "oh, shit!") is used to express surprise at a significant mistake or undesirable event. "attaboy" is an expression of admiration, congratulation, or encouragement.

A person can go on throughout his job doing what he is supposed to do each day, even being praised for it, but he is still only doing what is expected of him. But that "ah, shit!" moment, should it ever happen, is always the one that is remembered more than all the everyday happenings. And, unfortunately, anyone associated with the event that caused it will be forever remembered most for that event.

Answer 7

The most humorous version that I think strikes to the core is called BridgeBuilder

You can build a thousand bridges, but if you suck one cock, they don't call you a bridge builder but a cocksucker.

Basically, it says that the greatest things you accomplish are overshadowed by the "lowest".

May not be the most "Politically Correct" saying these days, but you could vary it if the terminology strikes a nerve.

Edit: It's a quote from Play it to the Bone

Answer 8

Like the other two answers, "the pea under the mattress" refers to a small defect that ruins something, rather than necessarily a defect that someone is responsible for ruining their own efforts. It is a reference to the Hans Christian Anderson story "The Princess and the Pea" (originally, "Prinsessen paa Ærten").

Answer 9

Between the cup and the lip a morsel may slip.

It is equivalent to the Chinese proverb 功亏一篑，which is in turn equivalent to the Japanese proverb 九仞の功を一簣に欠く as mentioned by OP.

Answer 10

Though not a proverb, the phrase "rained on his parade" is used to describe situations where lots of work and preparation is rendered fruitless by a coincidental event that would normally be considered trivial.

It's not quite the same, as this phrase suggests a descrete climactic glorifying event that is spoiled, rather than the termination of a cultivated favourable would-be ongoing state that your interesting phrase suggests. Also, yours has the priest making the mistake, whereas this suggests a coincidence but can be used in cases where a someone deliberately spoils someone else's arrangements.

People don't themselves rain, so to capture the self-inflicted nature of your phrase, it might also be translated as "pissed on his chips" — if you will excuse the colloquialism — used where someone unintentionally spoils their own situation. In British English, "pissed" meaning urinated (in this context), and "chips" means potato fries.

Answer 11

"You're only as good as your last [insert action here]."

Answer 12

One that hasn't come up yet: "blot your copybook" — in the sense that one drop or patch of ink on a neat page will ruin the entire thing. In your example the farting vicar would be said to have blotted his copybook.

There's also "fly in the ointment" or any number of variations on the theme you could find in the Viz Profanisaurus.