The Water Margin

Good times don't last forever, all flowers fade.

If fated, men come together though a thousand li apart. If not, they miss each other though they meet face to face.

Luck comes but once, but trouble comes in droves.

When good folk meet, evil men keep their distance.

Easily obtained, easily lost; arduously obtained, strongly held.

When the rabbit dies, the fox mourns. All are of the same animal kingdom.

The knot of hatred should be opened, not tightened.

Though you see a friend off a thousand li, sooner or later you must part.

Inner force counts more than outward strength.

Even what you see with your own eyes may not be true.

The prettiest papayas are emptiest inside.

The culprit must pay for his wrong, the debtor for his debt.

News of good behavior never gets past the door, but a scandal is heard of a thousand li away.

Ecstasy begets tragedy, from misery good fortune springs.

Without coincidence there would be no story.

A close neighbor means more than a distant relative.

The winds and clouds in the sky are unfathomable. A man's luck changes in an instant.

[Song Jiang] helped anyone, high or low, who sought his aid. [...] He was always making things easy for people, solving their difficulties, settling differences, saving lives. He provided the indigent with funds for coffins and medicines, gave charity to the poor, assisted in emergencies, helped in cases of hardship. And so he was famed throughout the provinces of Shandong and Hebei, and was known to all as the Timely Rain, for like the rain from the heavens he brought succor to every living thing.

Calamity and happiness have no volition. Man brings them on himself. Go in a flaxen cape to put out a fire and you'll be consumed by flames.

Friends don't last forever!

Money to an official is like blood to a fly.

The importance of human life is vast as the sky!

Within the bounds of the four seas, all men are brothers.