Have you ever heard the saying "clear water has no fish"? I used to think it only had an external meaning, but today, after a deeper exploration, I realize that this proverb contains a profound secret about how people live.

Actually, this saying has two parts, but most people only remember the first half. The second half is "a cautious person will have no disciples" — and that is the key point of the proverb. Its original source comes from the "Book of Rites of the Western Han," which discusses a very deep truth: if the water is too clear, fish cannot survive; similarly, if a person is too strict, no one will want to be around them.

I think about the first part — clear water has no fish. The reason isn’t just because fish are easily spotted and caught by hunters. In fact, clear water means a lack of nutrients. Fish need organic matter, algae, microorganisms to live, and those only exist when the water is somewhat "dirty." If the water is completely clean, it becomes a desert underwater, and fish cannot survive. This is similar to humans — we cannot live in absolute perfection.

And that’s when the second half of the proverb becomes meaningful: "a cautious person will have no disciples." Here, "cautious" doesn’t mean careful in work, but overly strict, overly critical. If you always see others through the lens of perfection, if you keep pointing out their faults, no one will want to be close to you. That is a life principle that our ancestors understood well.

I find this very true in real life. At home, if parents are too strict with their children, always criticizing instead of encouraging, the children will lose confidence and not want to be close to their parents. In marriage, if spouses keep pointing out each other's flaws and demand perfection, affection will gradually cool down. Clear water has no fish, but love and relationships need a bit of "dirt" — they need tolerance, acceptance of each other's imperfections.

I also think about relationships with friends and colleagues. The best people are not those who never criticize, but those who know when to be tolerant. They don’t see others through a critical eye or judge by overly high standards. Instead, they seek common ground, respect differences, and maintain harmony.

The proverb "clear water has no fish" is actually a reminder: don’t seek perfection everywhere. No one is perfect, and no world is perfect. Life is too short to waste on criticism or demands. Be less harsh, less strict, less critical — that is a form of wisdom, a form of tolerance, a form of inner cultivation. When you understand this, you will see that relationships with others become better, and life becomes lighter.