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> 好きこそものの上手なれ。 We tend to be good at those things we like. / People become
> best at what they love the most.

How does the こそ work here? Is this use of こそ common outside of proverbs?
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2012-01-30T02:11:42.480
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2012-02-12T23:46:07.290
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grammar
Help on a specific usage of こそ
It expresses the idea of "as much as" or "to the degree that", referring
specifically to the most/best such thing: _"The most A is the most B"_

~~We excel in a thing as much as we like it. We excel in a thing to the degree
that we like it.~~

Your translation "People become best at what they love the most." expresses
this well in the relationship between _best_ and _most_.

Here are some examples I found:

```

    短い条文こそ奥が深い
    やさしい曲こそ深い
    知識は使ってこそ技術になる
    速いランナーこそ要注意
    
```

So "The shortest law has the deepest meaning", etc.

~~If the subject is a single thing that can not vary in degree, こそ simply
serves as emphasis.~~

If used with things that vary not in degree but possibility, it emphasizes
that the thing is best/most likely by contrast with the other _implicit_
possibilities.

```

    彼こそ社長になるべき -> He, if anyone, should be president (instead of the current guy).
    今年こそ海外に行きます -> This year, for once, I will go overseas (after giving up every year until now).
    
```

EDIT:clarified the indication of "the most" in light of sawa's comment.
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2012-01-30T03:15:35.953
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2012-01-30T05:59:09.790
2012-01-30T05:59:09.790
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_Edit in revision 4: If you are interested in this proverb, do not miss
the[answer by Matt](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/4593/15) to another
question, where he cites an earlier form of the proverb._

_Edit in revision 2: I rewrote the answer completely to give a more detailed
explanation. If you prefer a shorter answer, see the[old
revision](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/revisions/4482/1)._

こそ signifies emphasis. In other words, it adds the meaning of exclusiveness
(as sawa wrote in a comment to this answer). It is not archaic, and it is
common to see こそ outside of proverbs or set phrases (see Paul Richter’s answer
for examples). In this answer, I will try to explain 好きこそものの上手なれ, focusing on
the role of こそ.

Without こそ, the sentence would be

> 好きはものの上手なり。 Liking makes mastery.

好き means the action of liking something, just as in modern Japanese.
[ものの[上手]{じょうず}](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E7%89%A9%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%8A%E6%89%8B&stype=1&dtype=0&dname=0ss)
is an archaic phrase which means a person who is very skilled at something. なり
is a copula in classical Japanese. Therefore the literal meaning of the
sentence above is roughly “Liking = A very skilled person,” but obviously this
does not make sense because an action is not a person. I think that it means
“Liking makes a very skilled person,” or in short, “Liking makes mastery,” but
I do not know the exact reason this “action = person” construct can be used.

Now we add こそ and the sentence becomes

> 好き **こそ** ものの上手なれ。 _It is_ liking _that_ makes mastery.

好きこそ means “liking, and nothing else.” So the sentence means that liking and
not anything else (such as aptitude) makes mastery. A similar meaning can be
expressed in English using a [cleft
sentence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleft_sentence) “It is … that …” like
the sentence above.

I changed the auxiliary verb なり at the end of sentence to なれ when I added こそ.
As Chocolate pointed out in a comment, this is an instance of the grammatical
phenomenon called 係り結び. In classical Japanese, when a phrase/clause ending
with particle こそ modifies a conjugating word at the end of a sentence, that
conjugating word takes 已然形 instead of 終止形. Similarly, when a phrase/clause
ending with one of particles ぞ, なむ, や, and か modifies a conjugating word at
the end of a sentence, that conjugating word takes 連体形. This phenomenon is
called 係り結び.
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2012-01-30T03:52:38.727
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2012-02-12T23:46:07.290
2017-04-13T12:43:48.447
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