Chinese idioms from the Dao De Jing
知足不辱 (zhī zú bù rǔ)
Word for word from chapter 44
知足不辱 (zhī zú bù rǔ), “knowing what is enough, you are not disgraced”, comes from chapter 44 of the Dao De Jing and means that whoever is content with what they have avoids humiliation.
Character by character
| 知足 | zhī zú | knowing what is enough |
|---|---|---|
| 不 | bù | not |
| 辱 | rǔ | disgrace |
| 知足不辱 | Whoever knows what is enough, and reaches for no more, will not be disgraced. | |
Where it comes from
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多藏必厚亡，知足不辱，
and great hoarding is sure to bring heavy loss. Knowing what is enough, you are not disgraced;
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知止不殆，可以长久。
knowing when to stop, you are not in danger, and can last long.
How the meaning moved
Chapter 44 weighs fame and goods against one's life and concludes that “great hoarding is sure to bring heavy loss.” Then comes the remedy: “Knowing what is enough, you are not disgraced; knowing when to stop, you are not in danger, and can last long.” The idiom is the first four characters of that remedy, and it is often quoted with the next four, 知止不殆.
知足, knowing what is enough, is one of the book's recurring ideas: “Knowing what is enough is wealth” in chapter 33, and “So the contentment of knowing what is enough is lasting contentment” in chapter 46, the line behind the everyday saying 知足常乐. The disgrace in chapter 44 is the fall of whoever grasps for more fame and wealth than they can hold. Later writers quoted the phrase as Daoist advice: in the Book of Jin (晋书), Lady Yin, queen of King Wuzhao of Liang, says “The state is small, but enough to govern. Knowing what is enough, one is not disgraced: that is a clear warning of the Daoists.” Today it is a written, somewhat formal counsel to be content and not overreach.
Using it today
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老师常用“知足不辱”提醒我们，不要为了虚名争个不停。
lǎo shī cháng yòng "zhī zú bù rǔ" tí xǐng wǒ men, bù yào wèi le xū míng zhēng gè bù tíng.
Our teacher often quotes “knowing what is enough, you are not disgraced” to remind us not to keep fighting for empty fame.
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知足不辱，知止不殆，生意做到这个规模，他觉得已经够了。
zhī zú bù rǔ, zhī zhǐ bù dài, shēng yi zuò dào zhè ge guī mó, tā jué de yǐ jīng gòu le.
Knowing what is enough keeps you from disgrace, knowing when to stop keeps you from danger: with his business at this size, he felt it was enough.