Q0407

Laozi

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

In pursuing learning, one increases day by day; in pursuing the Way, one decreases day by day. Decreasing and decreasing again, one arrives at non-action.
Thinker Laozi
School Daoism
Source Daodejing 48
Theme Way
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Daodejing 48, within the tradition of Daoism. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of way, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Laozi's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Laozi. (n.d.). In pursuing learning, one increases day by day; in pursuing the Way, one decreases day by day. Decreasing and decreasing again, one arrives at non-action. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0407

MLA: Laozi. “In pursuing learning, one increases day by day;….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0407.

Chicago: Laozi. “In pursuing learning, one increases day by day;….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0407.

Same thinker

More from Laozi

  1. The highest good is like water. Water benefits the myriad things and does not contend; it dwells in places the multitude dislike — therefore it is close to the Way.
  2. One who knows others is wise; one who knows oneself is enlightened. One who conquers others has strength; one who conquers oneself is truly strong. One who knows contentment is rich; one who persists has will.
  3. A tree that fills the arms' embrace grows from a tiny shoot; a nine-story tower rises from a heap of earth; a journey of a thousand li begins beneath one's feet.
  4. Difficult affairs under Heaven must arise from the easy; great affairs under Heaven must arise from the small.
  5. Humans model themselves on earth; earth on heaven; heaven on the Way; and the Way on what is naturally so.

All quotations by Laozi

Same theme

More on way

  1. The Master said: If one hears the Way in the morning, one may die content that evening.
  2. Those who have the Way receive much help; those who lose the Way receive little help.
  3. The highest good is like water. Water benefits the myriad things and does not contend; it dwells in places the multitude dislike — therefore it is close to the Way.
  4. Humans model themselves on earth; earth on heaven; heaven on the Way; and the Way on what is naturally so.
  5. Ordinary mind is the Way.

Browse the way theme