Mr.Yoshihiko Noda was inaugurated as the 95th Prime Minister of Japan on August 30th by winning the race among five candidates for Japan’s ruling party--the JDP’s leader election.

The phrase he likened himself to was dojo (loach), with which he wrapped up his manifestation address:

I’m like a dojo. It’s no use for a dojo to behave like (or imitate) a goldfish.

This became suddenly a hot word among Japanese electorates, and it was even quoted in many news media such as Washington Post, New York Times and Financial Times in the world.

By saying I’m a dojo. It’s no use for a dojo to behave like a goldfish he meant he is determined to pursue for steady, realistic and actionable goals and implement down-to-earth policies rather than chasing after gaudy, dreamy, but unachievable goals (as his predecessors have done in the past two decades and all failed). He borrowed this line from a popular poet called Mitsuo Aida known for the lines of his zen-like poetry.

I wonder if there are any (or many) metaphors and popular lines in the English speaking countries that can be equated with the line, It’s no use for a dojo to behave like a goldfish. I would like to show off my trove of imported phrases to my English enthusiastic buddies.