also: じんかんばんじさいおうがうま
expression
life is full of ups and downs; fortune is unpredictable
A proverb derived from a Chinese story: an old man's horse runs away, but later returns with another horse, and his son's injury from riding prevents him from being drafted. Teaches that misfortune may turn into fortune and vice versa; often used to console someone after a setback.
試験に落ちたけど、人間万事塞翁が馬というし、きっといいことがあるよ。
I failed the exam, but as they say, 'life is full of ups and downs,' so something good will surely come of it.
人間万事塞翁が馬だから、今の失敗をあまり気にしないで。
Since fortune is unpredictable, don't worry too much about this failure.
A shorter version of the same proverb, omitting 人間万事. Used in the same way but slightly more casual.
Another proverb with a similar meaning: 'good and bad are intertwined like a rope.' More literary and less common in daily speech.
From a Chinese story in the Huainanzi (淮南子). The phrase 人間万事 (all human affairs) is combined with 塞翁が馬 (the old man of the frontier's horse), referring to the parable where an old man's loss of a horse leads to unexpected fortune, and a subsequent injury saves his son from war.