水清ければ魚棲まず みずきよければうおすまず Meanings Expression the morally upright have a hard time making friends (literally: fish will not live in water that is (too) clean) Kanji 水 water. Read as みず. 清 clean. Read as きよい. 魚 fish. Read as うお. 棲 live; dwell. Read as すむ. Word lists Proverbs Jinuma: Japanese Dictionary · Word lists