He who knows don’t tell, he who tells don’t know. Block the hole, clos
玄德 · Xuán Dé
Classical Chinese Text
知者不言，言者不知。塞其兑，闭其门；挫其锐，解其纷；和其光，同其尘，是谓玄同。故不可得而亲，不可得而疏；不可得而利，不可得而害；不可得而贵，不可得而贱；故为天下贵
Translation & Meaning
He who knows don’t tell, he who tells don’t know. Block the hole, close the door; dull their sharpness, untangle their turmoil; mellow their light, soften their dirt, this is called the grand universal. This is why (one) must not acquire (it) then prefer, (one) must not acquire (it) then distant; (one) must not acquire (it) then profit, (one) must not acquire (it) then harm; (one) must not acquire (it) then promote, (one) must not acquire (it) then despise; because of these all that is under heaven revere (one).
Linguistic & Character Analysis
- 知 (zhī): know / distinguish / recognize
- 者 (zhě): aspects / those who / things
- 不 (bù): not / un- / without
- 言 (yán): words / speech
- 塞 (sāi): classical character (sāi)
- 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
- 兑 (duì): sharpness / apertures
- 闭 (bì): classical character (bì)
- 门 (mén): gateway / portal of reality
- 挫 (cuò): classical character (cuò)
- 锐 (ruì): classical character (ruì)
- 解 (jiě): untangle / resolve
- 纷 (fēn): turmoil / entanglement
- 和 (hé): accord / harmonize
- 光 (guāng): light / radiance / shine
- 同 (tóng): identical / unified / same source
- 尘 (chén): dirt / dust / mundane
- 是 (shì): this / therefore
- 谓 (wèi): called / named / designated
- 玄 (xuán): mystery / fathomless depth
- 故 (gù): therefore / thus / consequence
- 可 (kě): can / capable of being
- 得 (dé): obtain / acquire / gain
- 而 (ér): yet / and / but
- 亲 (qīn): classical character (qīn)
- 疏 (shū): classical character (shū)
- 利 (lì): benefits / nourishes
- 害 (hài): classical character (hài)
- 贵 (guì): prize / cherish / valuable
- 贱 (jiàn): classical character (jiàn)
- 为 (wèi): act / deem / become
- 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
- 下 (xià): under / earthly realm / humble