I spot Chinese philosophy, so here's some info: 庄周/庄子 (Zhuang'Zi) once said “且君子之交淡若水,小人之交甘若醴;君子淡以亲,小人甘以绝。”
Focusing on the first sentence, and the main origin of the concept, 君子淡交 (jun'zi'dan'jiao) literally means gentlemen (should) have "light" relationships. The kanji are not conflicting...