水至清则无鱼，人至察则无徒
shuǐ​zhì​qīng​zé​wú​yú​rén​zhì​chá​zé​wú​tú

too much perfection is not a good thing

  • created sense approved 水至清则无鱼，人至察则无徒/水至清則無魚，人至察則無徒 · shuǐ​zhì​qīng​zé​wú​yú​rén​zhì​chá​zé​wú​tú · too much perfection is not a good thing — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    水至清则无鱼，人至察则无徒 / 水至清則無魚，人至察則無徒

    shuǐ​zhì​qīng​zé​wú​yú​rén​zhì​chá​zé​wú​tú

    too much perfection is not a good thing

    (saying) water that is too clear has no fish, and a person who is too demanding has no companions or friends.

    水至清则无鱼 (literal) → 水至清则无鱼/水至清則無魚 · shuǐ​zhì​qīng​zé​wú​yú · if the water is too clear, there will be no fish ， (non_chinese) 人 (literal) → 人 · rén · person 至 (literal) → 至 · zhì · extremely 察 (literal) → 察 · chá · to examine 则 (literal) → 则/則 · zé · then 无 (literal) → 无/無 · wú · to not have 徒 (literal) → 徒 · tú · disciple

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense