Is there an English equivalent to the Chinese saying, 君子之交淡如水 ...？ [closed]
The original expression, from the famous Chinese book 'Zhuangzi' continues: "君子之交淡如水，小人之交甘若醴 ..." and its author is expressing that true friendships are like water, but that some relationships, in spite of looking good like wine, are not true friendships.
Solution 1:
What about this one? I'm not very sure.
A hedge between keeps friendship green
The link (in Chinese) I got this translation from is here.
Solution 2:
You have taken it out of context and that's why you are having difficulty understanding it. The complete quote is: 君子之交淡淡若水，小人之交甘若醴； 君子淡以亲，小人甘以绝。
It contrasts two kinds of friendship and then contrasts the reaction they evoke. In the first, a gentlemen's friendship is as flavorless as water; there is no vigor in it. In contrast, the friendship of a common man is often warm and sincere.
Yet, ironically, we are drawn to those who treat us with little interest; we grow to admire them. Similarly, despite the sincerity of the friendship of the poor man, we grow to despise him.
This saying expresses the notion that many people are drawn to relationships where they are not valued while wanting for affection, yet throw away relationships where they are shown affection easily.
The meaning is much clearer if you consider the entire sentence.
Solution 3:
To the extent that there is any truth to the notion that healthy and enduring friendships might sometimes require an occasional fudging or omission of the whole truth and that they might tend to last longer than friendships where the whole truth is never, ever hidden, the following might somehow have a small measure of relevance:
from the Latin “In vino veritas, in aqua sanitas.”
Regardless, it sure comes closer than the variation offered by Ben Franklin (or whoever really said it), but then again, maybe not:
“In wine there is wisdom; in beer there is freedom/strength; in water there is bacteria”