"The higher the sun ariseth, the less shadow doth he cast; even so the greater is the goodness, the less doth it covet praise; yet cannot avoid its rewards in honours"
About this Quote
A blazing sun feels like it should throw dramatic shadows, but at noon it does the opposite: it erases them. Lao Tzu uses that quiet optical truth to smuggle in a moral one. Real goodness, he suggests, is least interested in being seen as goodness. When virtue is mature, it stops posing. It doesn’t angle for applause, doesn’t keep a tally, doesn’t perform generosity with a camera-friendly flourish. Like high sunlight, it makes the world clearer by making the self less visually dominant.
The subtext is a critique of status-hungry morality. The desire to be praised is treated as a kind of shadow-work: evidence that the ego is still standing between the act and its purpose. In Daoist terms, this is the difference between forcing and flowing. Coveting praise is striving; it’s trying to manage outcomes, to convert decency into social capital. Lao Tzu’s best people don’t do that because their aim isn’t personal elevation. Their aim is alignment.
The twist is the last clause: goodness “cannot avoid its rewards in honours.” That’s not a humblebrag; it’s an observation about social gravity. Communities tend to notice steadiness, restraint, and competence, even when those traits refuse the spotlight. The paradox lands: the surest way to earn honor is to stop chasing it. In a courtly world where reputations were currency, Lao Tzu is warning that moral showmanship is counterfeit, and that the most credible virtue is the kind that casts no shadow because it isn’t blocking the light.
The subtext is a critique of status-hungry morality. The desire to be praised is treated as a kind of shadow-work: evidence that the ego is still standing between the act and its purpose. In Daoist terms, this is the difference between forcing and flowing. Coveting praise is striving; it’s trying to manage outcomes, to convert decency into social capital. Lao Tzu’s best people don’t do that because their aim isn’t personal elevation. Their aim is alignment.
The twist is the last clause: goodness “cannot avoid its rewards in honours.” That’s not a humblebrag; it’s an observation about social gravity. Communities tend to notice steadiness, restraint, and competence, even when those traits refuse the spotlight. The paradox lands: the surest way to earn honor is to stop chasing it. In a courtly world where reputations were currency, Lao Tzu is warning that moral showmanship is counterfeit, and that the most credible virtue is the kind that casts no shadow because it isn’t blocking the light.
Quote Details
| Topic | Chinese Proverbs |
|---|
More Quotes by Lao
Add to List
