君子之交淡如水

jūn zǐ zhī jiāo dàn rú shuǐ

a gentleman's friendship, insipid as water (idiom, from Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3])

jūn

monarch

son

zhī

(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])

jiāo

to hand over; to deliver; to pay (money); to turn over

dàn

insipid

as

shuǐ

water