expression
good medicine tastes bitter; the most helpful advice may be difficult to listen to
Proverb meaning that honest advice or criticism, like bitter medicine, is often hard to accept but ultimately beneficial.
彼の忠告は耳が痛かったが、良薬口に苦しというものだ。
His advice was hard to hear, but as they say, good medicine tastes bitter.
A Japanese proverb derived from classical Chinese literature, literally meaning 'good medicine is bitter to the mouth'.