Lao Tzu Quotes on Virtue
The Daodejing — traditionally attributed to Lao Tzu and the foundational text of philosophical Daoism — gives early Chinese philosophy its most influential alternative to the Confucian moral framework dominant in the Warring States period. The central treatment of virtue (de) develops the doctrine of effortless action (wu wei): genuine virtue consists not in the deliberate cultivation of moral norms in opposition to natural inclination but in the recovery of the spontaneous responsiveness through which the sage acts in concert with the dao, and the corresponding critique of conventional Confucian ren and yi treats them as the symptoms of a prior loss of the natural order they laboriously attempt to restore. The framework, transmitted alongside the Zhuangzi as the philosophical foundation of Daoism, shaped two and a half millennia of Chinese reflection on the relations of nature, culture, and the well-lived life.
Quotes
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“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”
interpreted by Stephen Mitchell (1992) | Variant translation by Lin Yutang : "He who knows others is learned; he who knows himself is wise". -
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 17 -
Attributed to Lao Tzu:
“The best fighter is never angry.”
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Attributed to Lao Tzu:
“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard.”
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“When men lack a sense of awe, there will be disaster.”
translated by Gia Fu Feng -
Attributed to Lao Tzu:
“From caring comes courage.”