A friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, but a friendship between villains is as sweet as wine.
A friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, but a friendship between villains is as sweet as sweet wine.
This article is from Zhuangzi written by Zhuang Zhou in the pre-Qin period.
2. The gentleman is harmonious but different, and the villain is not harmonious.
Gentlemen are different, villains are different.
Vernacular translation: A gentleman can maintain a friendly and harmonious relationship with others in interpersonal communication, but he doesn't have to cater to each other in order to completely agree with others on specific issues. The villain caters to others in details and blindly agrees with others' views, but there is no friendly attitude towards others in his heart.
This article comes from The Analects of Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Extended data 1. The translation of this sentence in the English version of Zhuangzi translated by British sinologist arthur waley is:
The friendship between noble people is as light as water, but affectionate; Friendship between immoral people is as sweet as wine, but it is easily broken.
A friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, but a friendship between villains is as sweet as wine.
2. The translation of this sentence in the English version of The Analects translated by British sinologist Liu is:
A gentleman values harmony and does not seek uniformity. Mean people pursue consistency, not harmony.
A gentleman is harmonious but different, and a villain is not harmonious.