人以群分

Pronunciation: rén yǐ qún fēn Literal meaning: People divide by groups

Origin & Usage

The half everyone quotes is 物以类聚，人以群分 — things gather by kind, people (人) divide (分) into groups (群). The first part descends from a line in the Book of Changes about categories sorting themselves; the second is a later proverbial addition, and it is the one that carries the sting. English reaches for birds of a feather, which matches the sense but not the tone: the Chinese is framed as a natural law rather than an observation about friends. Said of somebody's associates it is rarely a compliment, because the whole force of it is that the grouping was not accidental and tells you what you needed to know.

Examples

English: "In any community, individuals often form groups based on shared interests and beliefs."

Chinese: 在任何社区中，个人往往根据共同的兴趣和信仰形成群体。