“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom”: did Laozi say it?

What the Chinese says

Two halves of four characters. 知人者智: “one who knows people is wise”. 自知者明: “one who knows oneself is clear”. 明 is light, the clarity of seeing. Our translation: “Knowing others is wisdom; knowing yourself is clarity.” James Legge (1891) has “He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent.”

How translations differ

Every version keeps the two halves; they differ on the two words. The Chinese ranks them without saying so: 智 is cleverness about the world and other people, while 明 is the clear sight the book praises elsewhere, “knowing this constant is called brilliance” (chapter 16), “seeing the small is called clarity” (chapter 52). Mitchell marks the ranking by adding “true” to the second half, which is a fair reading. Gia-fu Feng and Jane English (1972) chose “enlightenment” for 明, and Stefan Stenudd, who keeps a list of sayings wrongly credited to Laozi, files that wording among them because the word sounds more Buddhist than Daoist, while granting that it renders chapter 33.

The line in its chapter

The next line makes the same turn from others to oneself: overcoming others takes force, overcoming yourself is strength. Then come contentment, will, lasting and long life, each defined by what a person is rather than what they have over others.