Great in Chinese / Japanese...

大志を抱 is a single Japanese word that kind of reads like a short proverb.

It suggests that you should have “high aims,” “ambitions,” or “aspirations” in your life.

鴻鵠之誌 is a Chinese proverb that implies that having grand ambitions also means that others will not understand your great expectations and ideas.

Though the actual words come from a longer saying of Confucius, which goes, “The little swallows living under the eaves wouldn't understand the lofty ambitions of a swan (who flies far and wide).”

This Confucius quote has led to this idiomatic expression in China that means “think big.” What you'd be saying is “The lofty ambitions of a swan.”

Note that Chinese people sometimes refer to the little swallow as one who does not “think big” but is, instead, stuck in a rut or just leading a mundane life. Therefore, it's a compliment to be called a swan but not a good thing to be called a swallow.

大安穏 means great peace, great repose, nirvanic peace, or great tranquility.

努力 means great effort; to strive; to try hard; great effort; great exertion; great endeavor (endeavour); great effort; to strive.

This “striving endeavor” word is valid in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

大智慧門 is the title for “The Great Wisdom Door,” or “The Gate to Great Wisdom.”

This refers to a portal to all wisdom and knowledge in Buddhism.

This is a rarely-used word for ocean in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. This is here mostly for reference - please order a different ocean for your custom calligraphy wall scroll.

The first character means “big” or “great.”
The second means “ocean” or “body of water” (it can sometimes mean “foreign” but not in this case).
The first character designates that you are talking about a great or huge body of water (certainly a major ocean and not a smaller sea).

This is Great Britain written in Japanese.

This is the Chinese name for Great Britain.

See Also:  England | United Kingdom | Scotland | Ireland | Europe

乘風破浪 is a Chinese proverb that represents having great ambitions.

The British might say “to plough through.” Another way to understand it is “surmount all difficulties and forge ahead courageously.”

This can also be translated as “braving the wind and waves,” “to brave the wind and the billows,” “to ride the wind and crest the waves,” or “to be ambitious and unafraid.”

Literally, it reads: “ride (like a chariot) [the] wind [and] break/cleave/cut [the] waves,” or “ride [the] wind [and] slash [through the] waves.”

乘風破浪 is a great proverb to encourage yourself or someone else not to be afraid of problems or troubles, and when you have a dream, just go for it.

There is an alternate version, 長風破浪, but 乘風破浪 is far more common.

大名 is the title Daimyō in Japanese, which means “lord” or “great name.”

This has the same meaning in Chinese as “great name,” or “your distinguished name.” In ancient Japan, this referred to a feudal lord.

Also sometimes romanized from Japanese as Daimio, Daimyou, Oomiyou, or Oomyou.

重擔 means heavy burden, difficult task, heavy load, or great responsibility.

大智 is a Zen Buddhist title that means supreme wisdom, great wisdom, Buddha-wisdom, omniscience, or transcendental wisdom.

大力 can mean immense physical strength or great power.

This can also act as an adjective for expressing how energetically or vigorously something is.

This can also be a given name, Dairiki, in Japanese.

万里の長城 is the Japanese name for the Great Wall of China.

大師 is a way to title a great master, grand master, or great teacher.

This can be used in the context of martial arts or a Buddhist teacher. Thus, it can be used to title a living Buddha, Bodhisattva, or high-ranking monk.

般若 means great wisdom or wondrous knowledge.

In the Buddhist context, this is prajna or prajñā, to know, to understand, to have the wisdom required to attain enlightenment.

Since this is a wisdom that transcends the realm of logic, the pure, absolute wisdom beyond the reach of words and concepts, it is not obtained through learning but is realized for the first time through a religious experience.

長城 is the Chinese name for the Great Wall.

Built at the northern border of China to protect from Mongol attack.

Notes:
In Japanese, this can be a surname Nagaki. Japanese often use a longer title for the Great Wall of China.
In Korean, this refers to Changsŏng (a city in Changsŏng-kun county, Chŏllanam-to province).

大智明 is a Zen Buddhist title that means the great illumination of wisdom.

This refers to wisdom so bright that it shines through obviously to all in its presence.

雄心 are the Chinese characters and Japanese Kanji for great ambition, lofty aspiration, or heroic spirit.

大君 is the Japanese word Taikun. It's defined directly as liege, lord, or an alternate title for a shogunate.

The sound of this Japanese word entered the English lexicon by the 1800s but took the spelling of “tycoon.” Even President Lincoln was referred to as a Tycoon in the 1860s.

In Japan, this is still understood as “Great Lord” or “Big Boss.” In America, it means “Bill Gates” and “Warren Buffet.”

大道無門 is a Buddhist proverb that means “The Great Way has no entrance,” “The Great Way is gateless,” or “The Great Path lacks a gate.”

This can be translated in many other ways.

This concept was authored within a long sacred text by 無門慧開 (known as Wúmén Huìkāi in Chinese or Mumon Ekai in Japanese). He was a Chinese Chan Master (in Japanese, a Zen Master) who lived between 1183 and 1260 AD. His most famous work was a 48-koan collection titled “The Gateless Barrier” or “The Gateless Gate” (無門關 Wú Mén Guān in Chinese, or 無門関 Mu Mon Kan in Japanese). This calligraphy title is a notable line from this collection.

I like this reference to the source of this proverb: The Gateless Gate 無門關

大望 is one of a few ways to write “dream big” in Japanese.

This is a good title if you want that to inspire ambition or high aspirations. 大望 is also a way to say “great expectations.”

望 holds the ideas of ambition, hope, desire, aspiring to, expectations, looking towards, to gaze (into the distance), and in some contexts, full moon rising.

望 is one of those single characters that is vague but in that vagueness, it also means many things.

望 is a whole word in Chinese and old Korean but is seldom seen alone in Japanese. Still, it holds the meanings noted above in all three languages.

大蓮華智慧三摩地智 is the title for “The wisdom of the great lotus, samādhi-wisdom.”

This is also the penetrating wisdom of Amitābha.