Are there counterpart English expressions to Japanese proverb, "the nail that pops up is always hammered down?

Question

I was once reminded by Robusto-san of a Japanese popular saying, ‘出る釘は打たれる - the nail that pops up is always hammered down,’ when I complained about sequential down-votes that I received.

I wondered at that time if this expression is unique to the Japanese collectivity-oriented patterns of thinking, which Shichihei Yamamoto defined as ‘rice-growers’ mindset’ to simply mimic what others do without having your own thought - when the neighboring farmer starts planting rice, you plant rice. When your neighbor crops rice, you crop yours. When the neighboring farmer starts to repair a thatched roof made of rice straw, you mend the thatch of your cottage.

In the famous book, “Japanese and Jew ” written by the pseudonym of Isaiah Ben-Dasan, Yamamoto argues basic differences of the ways of thinking between the Japanese and the Jew - agricultural people vs pastoral people in his definition.

We have a lot of proverbs to teach us to be meek, or flexible at best, such as “泣く子と地頭には勝てぬ‐You cannot argue with a crying child and your magistrate,” “長いものには巻かれろ- It’s better to be obedient to those in power,” “喬木は風に弱し-A tall tree is weak to a gale,” “柳に風折れなし‐Willows don’t break in storms (because they have branches and leaves supple enough to fend off strong wind).”

“触らぬ神に祟りなし‐Don’t get involved (with the problem), and you won’t get a slap from God,” and “Silence is gold (I think this is a Japanese version of German proverb, 'Reden ist Silber, Schweigen ist Gold' transplanted in the Meiji era in late 19 century),” can be classified into the same “Don’t be conspicuous” lesson group.

I understand westerners value assertiveness based on individualism against oriental collectivism, and wonder if the concept like ’出る釘は打たれる- the nail that pops up is hammered down,’ is viable at all in the western societies as a matter of comperative culture.

Are there any proverbs or sayings that admonish values of being unnoticeable (not saying insignificant) or an advantage of staying just in average that can be compared to ‘the nail that pops up is hammered down’?

Answer 1

As Marc pointed out in his answer, there is an Australian version, although his wording is much more proper than I would expect from us Aussies. I have always heard it expressed as "Tall poppies get cut short".

Also, check out Tall Poppy Syndrome.

Answer 2

I know the questioner wanted proverbs that value conformity, but this proverb comes to mind immediately:

The squeaky wheel gets the grease

It has the exact opposite meaning to the proverb in the question, but the sentiment is similar: it describes what happens to something (or someone) that draws attention to itself (himself). If the questioner is interested in the differences between Western and Japanese culture, and how these manifest through language, they might find this interesting.

Answer 3

I heard this phrase used, I think by a Korean, in a documentary called BBoy Planet. There, it was translated as "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down", which seems to carry the meaning better into English.

English phrases with similar connotations might include...

• Keep your head down.
• Don't stick your neck out.

As you pointed out, Western culture has a different view of individuality, so a phrase like "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down" takes on a different meaning. Because of our culture, we infer that the message is something like Be More Sympathetic To Those Who Are Different - basically, Don't Be A Hammer. In an Eastern context, the meaning is obvious: Being Different Invites Trouble.

Answer 4

Denis Thatcher, husband of the late Margaret Thatcher, kept a notably low profile. When asked about it, he would sometimes say:

It's the whale that spouts that gets harpooned.

When people are, for example, starting a new job, they are often advised to:

Keep your head down and your mouth shut.

If somebody in an institution intends to oppress you, they say:

I will come down on you like a ton of bricks.

But, in general, English-speaking culture does not have that kind of unavoidable, oppressive conformity ... except in the military. Can anybody with military experience think of an equivalent expression?

Answer 5

An Australian friend used to say "When a blade of grass is taller than the rest, we cut it down to size."

Answer 6

I think this most closely matches the saying

"The tallest poppy gets cut down"

Answer 7

There is one phrase that I've heard as a counterpart to toryan's suggestion:

The squeaky wheel gets replaced.

It's usually used to as a direct opposition to the more common phrase as a cautionary reminder that while complaining about a problem can solve the problem, there are risks involved raising that complaint as well. I believe it has essentially the same meaning as your original phrase.

Answer 8

This proverb immediatly makes me think of the English phrase:

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

This conveys a sense of conformism, though primarily aimed at foreigners in an alien culture.
It may exist in other European languages too, I wouldn't know.

Answer 9

There may be no exact equivalent, but one proverb which is not too distant from yours is

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

which means that exceptional people suffer exceptionally when they fail.1

Answer 10

Most English proverbs that advocate conformity don't dwell on the negative effects of nonconformity. Instead they run along the lines of

Go along to get along.

and

One must howl with the wolves.

and

Don't make waves.

But the benefits of conformity are perhaps of best expressed in this one (from the Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs):

Do as most men do, then most men will speak well of you.

Answer 11

One more piece of Western culture to compare would be the tale of Daedalus and Icarus, with the (not particularly well known or often repeated - though the story itself is somewhat popular) cautionary description of "wings cast toward the sun".

The chief difference in the advice is the focus on pride and the punishment it is said to naturally bring, and the danger of "flying too close to the sun" (risking too much and shooting for too great a goal, and thus losing everything).

The advice in the Icarus tale is different in degree, in that its ok to go against authority and do something you aren't naturally even equipped to do (like a man flying with bird wings), but if you get carried away or too prideful or careless the penalty will be extreme - if you stand out too much, you might get hammered down.

Now bare in mind that this tale is from ancient Greek mythology, and these sorts things are almost always cautionary tales which are the exception rather than the general popular cultural attitude.

As a counter-point, the more modern Oscar Wilde is said to have written:

Never regret thy fall, / O Icarus of the fearless flight / For the greatest tragedy of them all / Is never to feel the burning light.

This is far more typical of modern European and American cultural advice, where risk taking and "exceptionalism" are actively encouraged.

To illustrate this one need only look at the many comments that offer the opposite advice, to which I point out popular attitudes like:

"sheeple" (people who act like sheep - thought to gather together and follow each other mindlessly, though this is an almost entirely factually inaccurate description of sheep in natural settings), "like lambs to the slaughter", "don't be just another face in the crowd","stand and be counted"

And literally dozens of other pieces of common (even cliche) advice all tend to point in this direction. The funny thing is that the societies often behave in the same general way, where "sticking your neck out" is just as liable to get you in trouble - especially in the corporate world and in the "public sector" (government jobs). Americans particularly are often just as quick to ostracize and oppress people who don't "fit the mold" and cling to desires for normalcy and often fear atypical behavior, cultural attitudes that encourage being different not withstanding.

So this is one example of how popular written and verbal culture can give you a misleading impression of human nature and societal functioning; the stated goals might differ, but the underlying behavior can be all too familiar. Suggest doing something different can make people uncomfortable and it can result in getting everything you suggest getting "nay-sayed" into oblivion.

Answer 12

My favourite answer to that particular proverb:

The nail that sticks up gets hammered. It is better to be a hammer than a nail.

Japanese society is about being humble and bowing lower than those "above" you. Most Americanized countries have no concept of this. Even in England it is polite to call someone by their last name (e.g. "Mr. Smith"), however in America you just say "Hey Tom". Do that in Japan and they will think that you are married to Tom, because the only ones who call you by your first name is your spouse or your parent.

This is why there aren't any real parallels in the English literature; the value system is different.

Answer 13

I think this would be semantically similar:

The mighty will fall.

How about this, simple and semantically very close; but certainly does not admonish "average-ness":

What goes up must come down.

There is also a Sanskrit proverb which goes like this:

A clever crow dips its beak in shit.

The implication being an average crow would then learn from the clever crow that the thing on the ground is indeed shit.

How about this? This, I think is very close to what you want.

The second rat gets the cheese.

The implication being that the first rat to the cheese is killed by the rat-trap. It admonishes being average; kinda.

Answer 14

From sanskrit...

Trees that don't bend with the wind, won't last the storm

Or...

The wind does not break a tree that can bend

Answer 15

A term that I've heard used is crab mentality: crabs cannot escape from a bucket because they are dragged down by the other crabs.

In Scandinavian culture the tendency of a community to punish successful members is known as the law of Jante. There is also a related concept in social psychology called groupthink.

Answer 16

We usually say "don't stick your neck out" which is a reference to butchering Turkeys (a loud bird with a long neck). But it's always a saying among working-class folk, and rarely said among upper class people.

It's use is universally recognized as a strong indicator of either oppression, ignorance or bad management.

Answer 17

Phrases to come to my mind are:

Eagles may soar, but Weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Best source I could find pegs this as anonymous from the early 1990's, so not exactly a proverb. It's more of a humorous counterpoint to ambition. Also, from the eagle and weasel's point of view, the jet engine is more of a Deus Ex Machina or an uncontrollable fate, whereas a hammer is a purpose built device for hammering down nails.

It's already been mentioned, but this quote is more proverbial:

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse get's the cheese.

The first half is quite old, apparently first published in a 1670 collection of proverbs. The second bit sounds more modern, but mouse traps have been around for at least as long as the early bird proverb. One site only traces the modified proverb back to 1994.

But I don't bring it up for the cheese commentary. I bring it up because there's a different counterpoint I encountered recently that goes like this:

The early bird may get the worm, but most of us can only aspire to be early worms.

I can't find anything definitive on this; most references site the more common praise of procrastination: "The worm who sleeps in doesn't get eaten." In fact, any comprehensive review of English proverbs and quotations will find that conformity is almost always mentioned in a negative light.

So to answer your question directly, no there really aren't any sayings or proverbs in English that match "the nail which sticks up is hammered down". Anything that does fit is a more modern expression which better fits the definition of an anti-proverb, or an internet meme.

Answer 18

There is a phrase in English that expresses the same thought.

If you stick your head above the parapet, you'll get it shot off

Answer 19

I think the closest phrase I hear a lot in America that has the same anti-non-conformist message is

Don't rock the boat (TFD)

to do or say something that causes problems, especially if you try to change a situation which most people do not want to change

A lot of the time this is borne of the fear that upsetting the (possibly crappy) status quo will result in a worse situation, so anyone attempting to change the situation for the better is told not to rock the boat since the current situation is 'okay'. This is the sort of conformist mentality you'll often find in America.

Answer 20

The glass ceiling metaphor is sort of complimentary to this phrase... it essentially means that you can see how to get to the top but someone doesn't want you to get there, thus the glass ceiling put in place to stop you.

Answer 21

There is a similar proverb in China which is " 枪打出头鸟“ means " the bird that flys up fist from a group of birds gets shot easier than the other ones." however, according to the western cultures, they do not treasure conformity as much as the Asians. There is a very small chance that they will have a similar proverb.

Answer 22

One of the Chanakya Quotes says: "Straight trees are cut first."

Quote -

A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first.

Read more

Answer 23

Another saying: "You can tell the pioneers by the arrows in their backs".

Answer 24

There are already better answers but I still wanted to add Matthew 19:30 to the collection: "But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first."

It means that it doesn't necessarily pay to stand out by all means, even though the reason given is metaphysical in nature.

Answer 25

Someone here posted "It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease." Years ago I added the personal addendum: "But sometimes it's the squeaky wheel that gets replaced."

All societies have their rabblerousers and all societies value conformity to help society run more smoothly (and discourage anti-government/anti-church rhetoric). Although it's often the message that's controversial, its acceptance is more often dependent on who's standing on the soap box.

If a child says, "I don't like broccoli." his parents say, "Shut up and eat your vegetables." If the president of the United States says, "I don't like broccoli." as George Bush Sr. did 20+ years ago, broccoli growers across America shout, "What the hell are you trying to do?! Put us out of business!?" In both cases the nail's getting hammered back down, but the latter required a much larger hammer, though I'm sure Bush's toadies stopped eating broccoli immediately in order to flatter their leader.