Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Lao Tzu is the name attached to the author of the Tao Te Ching, the founding text of Taoism, composed in China around the sixth or fourth century BC. Whether he was a historical person or a collection of several authors has been debated for centuries. The book works through paradox and restraint, and opens by warning that what matters most cannot be put into words.
About this theme: Wisdom
In the Western tradition wisdom is almost always defined by what it is not. Socrates is famous for claiming to know that he knew nothing; that was not modesty but method. Knowledge is a set of facts, wisdom is knowing what to do with them — and, more often, knowing when there are not enough of them.
More by Lao Tzu
- A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
- Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
- Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
- When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
- A leader is best when people barely know he exists.
More on Wisdom
- Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.— Lao Tzu
- An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.— Benjamin Franklin
- Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.— Arthur Schopenhauer
- He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.— Lao Tzu
- Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.— Baruch Spinoza