"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil"
The saying originally came to Japan as a Tendai-Buddhist ledgend in the 8th Century, and the imagery of three monkey's was popularised by a carving over a door in the Tōshō-gū shrine in Japan.
The original saying in Japanese was "mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru" - which means "see not, hear not, speak not". The suffix -zaru means "not".
The imagery of the monkeys was found, as the suffix is a modifued form of the word saru - which means monkey in Japanese. Thus the monkeys have been given the names: Mizaru (see no evil), Kikazaru (hear no evil), and Iwazaru (speak no evil).
The meaning of this proverb differs between cultures.
It is believe that a statue of the three wise monkeys was one of just a handful of possessions that Mahatma Gandhi owned.
Our three wise monkeys cufflinks come in their own storage and presentation box.