"He who knows others is wise, and he who knows himself is wise" means: being able to understand and know others is called wisdom, and being able to know and understand yourself is truly smart.

This sentence comes from Laozi's "Tao Te Ching". The original text is as follows:

He who knows others is wise, and he who knows himself is wise; he who conquers others is powerful, and he who conquers himself is strong; he who is content is rich. , Those who force themselves have ambition; those who do not lose their place will live long; those who die but do not die will live long.

Vernacular translation

Being able to understand and know others is called wisdom, and being able to know and understand yourself is considered smart. Being able to defeat others is powerful, being able to restrain one's own weaknesses is considered strong. He who knows contentment is a rich man. Perseverance and unremitting efforts are ambitions. Those who do not lose their duty can live long and live long. Only those who die but still have the "Tao" can truly live a long life.

Extended information:

"He who knows others is wise, and he who knows himself is wise" comes from Chapter 33 of Laozi's "Tao Te Ching".

"Tao Te Ching", also known as "Tao Te Ching", "Laozi", "Five Thousand Words", "Laozi Five Thousand Essays", is a work written by the ancient Chinese pre-Qin philosophers before the division of the family. , highly regarded by scholars at that time, is said to have been written by Laozi (Li Er, a native of Luyi, Henan) during the Spring and Autumn Period, and is an important source of Taoist philosophical thought. The Tao Te Ching is divided into two parts. The original text is the first part "De Jing" and the second part "Tao Jing". They are not divided into chapters. Later, they were changed to "Tao Jing". Chapter 37 comes first, and after chapter 38, it is "De Jing" and divided into chapters. For 81 chapters. It is the first complete philosophical work in Chinese history.

The "Tao Te Ching" was regarded as a Taoist classic from 206 BC to 200 AD. Therefore, some scholars believe that the "Tao Te Ching" is divided into eighty-one chapters and has obvious Taoist nine-nine chapters. The idea of ??one is far-fetched in the division of content. However, the first thirty-seven chapters of the Tao Te Ching preach and the last forty-four chapters talk about virtue. To put it simply, Tao is the body and virtue is the function. The two cannot be equated. In the Qing Dynasty, Wei Yuan broke this convention for the first time and divided the Tao Te Ching into sixty-eight chapters, relatively maintaining the integrity of each chapter.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - He who knows others is wise, and he who knows himself is wise