人在江湖，身不由己

you can't always do as you like / one has to compromise in this world (idiom)

person; people / CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4]

to exist; to be alive / (of sb or sth) to be (located) at / (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)

surname Jiang

river / CL:條|条[tiao2],道[dao4]

rivers and lakes / all corners of the country / remote areas to which hermits retreat / section of society operating independently of mainstream society, out of reach of the law / the milieu in which wuxia tales play out (cf. 武俠|武侠[wu3 xia2]) / (in late imperial times) world of traveling merchants, itinerant doctors, fortune tellers etc / demimonde / (in modern times) triads / secret gangster societies / underworld

lake / CL:個|个[ge4],片[pian4]

body / life / oneself / personally / one's morality and conduct / the main part of a structure or body / pregnant / classifier for sets of clothes: suit, twinset / Kangxi radical 158

no; not so / (bound form) not; un-

can't help (doing sth)

to follow / from / because of / due to / by / via / through / (before a noun and a verb) it is for ... to ...

to follow / from / because of; due to / by; via; through / (before a noun and a verb) it is for ... to ...

without the freedom to act independently (idiom); involuntary / not of one's own volition / in spite of oneself

self / oneself / sixth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / sixth in order / letter "F" or Roman "VI" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / hexa