Q0408

“The stiff and unbending is the disciple of death; the soft and…” — Laozi (Daodejing, Ch. 76)

Verified English quotation. Primary source: Daodejing, Ch. 76. Theme: life.

English

The stiff and unbending is the disciple of death; the soft and yielding is the disciple of life.
Thinker Laozi
School Daoism
Source Daodejing, Ch. 76
Theme Life
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to Daodejing, Ch. 76 and files it under Daoism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Laozi

Laozi is the traditional sage-author of the Daodejing, though historical identity and textual formation remain contested. Early tradition places him in the sixth century BCE as an older contemporary of Confucius; many scholars see the received text as composite and later.

How to read this passage

Life is both a biological fact and a practical project. Philosophers debate flourishing, suffering, mortality, and the standards by which a biography can be judged successful or wasted. This passage enters that discussion through life.

Concepts in this quote

Life
Philosophy quotes about life ask what makes a life good, meaningful, or worth examining—questions that drive ethics, religion, and everyday decision.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Laozi. (n.d.). The stiff and unbending is the disciple of death; the soft and yielding is the disciple of life. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0408

MLA: Laozi. “The stiff and unbending is the disciple of….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0408.

Chicago: Laozi. “The stiff and unbending is the disciple of….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0408.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “The stiff and unbending is the disciple of…”?

The passage is attributed to Laozi, Daodejing, Ch. 76. The archive attributes this English wording to Daodejing, Ch. 76 and files it under Daoism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

What does Laozi mean by life?

Life is both a biological fact and a practical project. Philosophers debate flourishing, suffering, mortality, and the standards by which a biography can be judged successful or wasted. This passage enters that discussion through life.

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 life

  1. It is through wonder that people both now begin and first began to philosophize.
  2. A person's character is their destiny.
  3. What is opposed brings together; from what differs comes the finest harmony.
  4. Death is nothing to us: for what has been dissolved has no sensation, and what has no sensation is nothing to us.
  5. Pleasure is the beginning and end of the happy life — not the pleasures of profligates, but freedom from pain in the body and from disturbance in the soul.

Browse the life theme