Q0457

“Nothing under Heaven is softer than water, yet nothing attacks the hard…” — Laozi (Daodejing, Ch. 78)

Verified English quotation. Primary source: Daodejing, Ch. 78. Theme: philosophy.

English

Nothing under Heaven is softer than water, yet nothing attacks the hard and strong more effectively.
Thinker Laozi
School Daoism
Source Daodejing, Ch. 78
Theme Browse all themes
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to Daodejing, Ch. 78 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

This passage is indexed under . Those labels identify the concepts it can illuminate; they do not replace the argument surrounding it in Daodejing, Ch. 78.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Laozi. (n.d.). Nothing under Heaven is softer than water, yet nothing attacks the hard and strong more effectively. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0457

MLA: Laozi. “Nothing under Heaven is softer than water, yet….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0457.

Chicago: Laozi. “Nothing under Heaven is softer than water, yet….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0457.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “Nothing under Heaven is softer than water, yet…”?

The passage is attributed to Laozi, Daodejing, Ch. 78. The archive attributes this English wording to Daodejing, Ch. 78 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 philosophy?

This passage is indexed under . Those labels identify the concepts it can illuminate; they do not replace the argument surrounding it in Daodejing, Ch. 78.

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 philosophy

  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 all philosophy themes