"Water that is too pure has no fish."

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

andylawcc

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
18,183
3
81
meanwhile, coincident or not, that line is a translation of a Chinese proverb.

Directly, it means if the lake/pond where the fishes live is too clear, everyone would have caught all the fishes and there will be no fish left. If the water is murky/muddy, no one would know how many fishes are still available.

Implicitly, (pardon my poor interpertation, I am a bit hungover) it can mean if a person tell everyone everything about himself, no one would be interested in knowing him because there's nothing left to know. In a sense, it's like playing "Hard to Get."
 

her209

No Lifer
Oct 11, 2000
56,336
11
0
Originally posted by: andylawcc
meanwhile, coincident or not, that line is a translation of a Chinese proverb.
I heard the quote on the cartoon show, Xiaolin Showdown.