Although the philosophy of Confucius was a great influence on ancient Chinese thought and culture, several other Chinese philosophers developed theories as well. One such philosopher was Lao-tzu, who is given credit for the way of thought called Taoism. Taoism holds that to achieve a happy life a person should live a life of complete simplicity without interfering with the flow of natural events. Below are two selections from the text of the Tao Te Ching.
33. Virtue
Who understands the World is learned.
Who understands the Self is enlightened [given knowledge].
Who conquers the World has strength.
Who conquers the Self has love.
Who is contented [with what he has] has riches.
Who is determined has purpose.
Who maintains his home will long endure [live].
Who maintains his influence will live long after death.
63. Confront Difficulty
Practice no-action,
Attend to do-nothing,
Taste the flavorless,
Examine the small,
Multiply the few,
Return love for hate.
Deal with difficulty while it is yet easy;
Deal with the great while it is yet small;
The difficult develops naturally from the easy
And the great from the small;
So the sage [wise person], by dealing with the small
Achieves the great.
He who finds it easy to promise finds it hard to deliver;
He who takes things lightly makes things hard;
The sage confronts [comes face to face with] difficulty, and so has none.