福无双至

Pronunciation: fú wú shuāng zhì Literal meaning: Blessings do not come in pairs

Origin & Usage

Liu Xiang's Garden of Persuasions has the older form — 福不重至，祸必重来, blessings do not come twice, misfortunes certainly come again — which settled into the pairing used today: 福无双至，祸不单行. The Water Margin puts it in characters' mouths at exactly the moment their luck turns. The asymmetry is the whole point: good fortune (福) does not arrive doubled (无双至), while trouble comes in company. It is said with resignation rather than bitterness, most often by someone who has just had one good thing happen and is declining to expect a second.

Examples

English: "He realized that good luck is often fleeting and rare."

Chinese: 他意识到好运往往是短暂而稀有的。