good fortune does not come in pairs; good things seldom come twice
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesphrase
good fortune does not come in pairs; blessings never arrive in twos
literaryOften contrasted with or followed by "祸不单行" (misfortune never comes singly), together forming a complete proverb about the nature of luck and misfortune. Expresses the idea that one should not expect continuous good luck.
Gāng刚
zhòng中
le了
jiǎng奖
，
bié别
zhǐ指
wàng望
míng明
tiān天
hái还
néng能
zài再
zhòng中
，
fú福
wú无
shuāng双
zhì至
ma嘛
。
You just won the lottery, don't expect to win again tomorrow; good fortune does not come in pairs.
Zhēn真
shì是
fú福
wú无
shuāng双
zhì至
，
huò祸
bù不
dān单
xíng行
，
hǎo好
shì事
gāng刚
guò过
，
huài坏
shì事
jiù就
lái来
le了
。
It's truly a case of 'blessings never arrive in twos, but misfortunes never come singly'—just as the good thing passed, a bad thing arrived.
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Gǔ古
rén人
yún云
fú福
wú无
shuāng双
zhì至
，
tí提
xǐng醒
wǒ我
men们
yào要
zhēn珍
xī惜
yǎn眼
qián前
de的
xìng幸
yùn运
。
As the ancients said, 'good things seldom come twice,' reminding us to cherish the good fortune before us.