phrases - Are there English equivalents to the Japanese saying, “There’s a god who puts you down as well as a god who picks you up”?


There is an old Japanese saying, “捨てる神あれば、拾う神あり-Suterukami areba hirou kami ari,” meaning “There’s a god who puts you down as well as a god who picks up you.” In other words, “In this world, some people help you, and some people harm you” or “Fortune and misfortune come alternately.”


For example, when you are fired from an IT company, and then hired by its rival company with a higher salary three months later, your peers will say to you “You're a lucky man. There’s a god who throws you away as well as a god who picks you up.”


I’m curious to know if there are similar sayings in English to “Suterukami areba hirou kami ari.”



Answer



Probably the closest English saying to this is "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away," which is actually a misquote of Job 1:21:



And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.



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