"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" is a common saying that originated from a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

proverb. The quotation is from Chapter 64 of the

Dao De Jing The ''Tao Te Ching'' (, ; ) is a Chinese classic text written around 400 BC and traditionally credited to the sage Laozi, though the text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion da ...

ascribed to Laozi, although it is also erroneously ascribed to his contemporary

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

. This saying teaches that even the longest and most difficult ventures have a starting point; something which begins with one first step. The phrase is also translated as A journey of a thousand miles begins from under the feet "and a thousand mile journey beings where one stands"

References

Chinese proverbs Taoist philosophy Quotations from literature {{tao-stub