--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He who knows other men is discerning;" description: "\"“He who knows other men is discerning;”\" — Lao Tzu" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51c/lao-tzu-624_discerning_he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning-245_2455412.jpg" --- # He who knows other men is discerning; ![“He who knows other men is discerning;” quote by Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51c/lao-tzu-624_discerning_he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning-245_2455412.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51c/lao-tzu-624_discerning_he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning-245_2455412.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51c/lao-tzu-624_discerning_he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning-245_2455412.jpg) > ““He who knows other men is discerning;”” [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding others provides insight, allowing discernment in judgment and relationships. **In simple terms:** Knowing others helps discernment. Key Takeaway Observe others to improve judgment. Themes wisdom perception relationships Mood contemplative balanced Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - leadership - team building - conflict resolution Key Concepts Empathy discernment Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance self‑knowledge and other‑knowledge? - What limits discernment? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on others’ traits may bias judgment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discerning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discerning/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Knows Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows-men-605085/) [Men Discerning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-discerning-605084/) ## Related quotes > [“He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent. He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning-he-who-knows-himself-is/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [God alone is the judge of true greatness because He knows men's hearts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/god-alone-is-the-judge-of-true-greatness-because-he-knows-men-s-hearts/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“A man who knows what other men know,know nothing for they all know the same”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-who-knows-what-other-men-know-know-nothing-for-they-all-know/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There are two sides to every woman.” It might have been a mummy dispensing elder wisdom. “One is rational, like a man. The other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/there-are-two-sides-to-every-woman-it-might-have-been-a-mummy/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“If he shrugs his shoulders, it is because he is no fool. He knows that once men are caught up in an event they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/if-he-shrugs-his-shoulders-it-is-because-he-is-no-fool-he-knows-that/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [He knows much of what men paint themselves would blister in the light of what they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-knows-much-of-what-men-paint-themselves-would-blister-in-the-light/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everybody knows worse of himself than he knows of other men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/everybody-knows-worse-of-himself-than-he-knows-of-other-men/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [No one knows 'men' as such, any more than anyone knows 'women,' and if they do generalise they're probably trying to hide their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-burchill/no-one-knows-men-as-such-any-more-than-anyone-knows-women-and-if-they/) [Julie Burchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-burchill/) > [“A woman who knows all about men usually knows one part very well and can't conceive the other parts, but that doesn't mean they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-woman-who-knows-all-about-men-usually-knows-one-part-very-well-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Why do the men come, do you suppose?" "Who knows why men do anything?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-adams/why-do-the-men-come-do-you-suppose-who-knows-why-men-do-anything/) [Richard Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-adams/) > [“She knows about men, knows a good deal of the world's character. But it is hard, whatever you have endured, to give up on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-miller/she-knows-about-men-knows-a-good-deal-of-the-world-s-character-but-it/) [Andrew Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-miller/) > [Who knows why men do anything?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-adams/who-knows-why-men-do-anything/) [Richard Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-adams/) > [There are certain times you rattle the press's cages, and other times you don't, and you have to be discerning about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-fleischer/there-are-certain-times-you-rattle-the-press-s-cages-and-other-times/) [Ari Fleischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-fleischer/) > [The sectaries of a persecuted religion, depressed by fear, animated with resentment, and perhaps heated by enthusiasm, are seldom in a proper temper of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-sectaries-of-a-persecuted-religion-depressed-by-fear-animated/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Kids, if anything, are harder to write for because they are a more discerning audience. They will not stay with you if you go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/kids-if-anything-are-harder-to-write-for-because-they-are-a-more/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) ## More by Lao Tzu > [“This is how they are able to continue and endure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/this-is-how-they-are-able-to-continue-and-endure/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“Gravity is the root of lightness;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/gravity-is-the-root-of-lightness/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“Therefore the Tao is great;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/therefore-the-tao-is-great/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“Not seeking, not expecting, she is present, and can welcome all things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/not-seeking-not-expecting-she-is-present-and-can-welcome-all-things/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“What all men fear is indeed to be feared;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/what-all-men-fear-is-indeed-to-be-feared/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“Just remain in the center; watching. And then forget that you are there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/just-remain-in-the-center-watching-and-then-forget-that-you-are-there/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“This is what is called 'The mysterious Quality' (of the Tao).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/this-is-what-is-called-the-mysterious-quality-of-the-tao/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“If you show yourself, you will not be seen. If you affirm yourself, you will not shine. If you boast, you will have no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/if-you-show-yourself-you-will-not-be-seen-if-you-affirm-yourself-you/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/the-thirty-spokes-unite-in-the-one-nave-but-it-is-on-the-empty-space/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“To know and yet (think) we do not know is the highest (attainment); not to know (and yet think) we do know is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/to-know-and-yet-think-we-do-not-know-is-the-highest-attainment-not-to/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent. He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning-he-who-knows-himself-is/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“If you are depressed, you are living in the past; if you are anxious, you are living in the present; if you are at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/if-you-are-depressed-you-are-living-in-the-past-if-you-are-anxious/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“Simplicity without a name Is free from all external aim. With no desire, at rest and still, All things go right as of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/simplicity-without-a-name-is-free-from-all-external-aim-with-no/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them safe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/when-gold-and-jade-fill-the-hall-their-possessor-cannot-keep-them-safe/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it 'the Inaudible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/we-listen-to-it-and-we-do-not-hear-it-and-we-name-it-the-inaudible/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) [Explore all 434 Lao Tzu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) ## More Discerning quotes > [Kids, if anything, are harder to write for because they are a more discerning audience. They will not stay with you if you go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/kids-if-anything-are-harder-to-write-for-because-they-are-a-more/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [The sectaries of a persecuted religion, depressed by fear, animated with resentment, and perhaps heated by enthusiasm, are seldom in a proper temper of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-sectaries-of-a-persecuted-religion-depressed-by-fear-animated/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [There are certain times you rattle the press's cages, and other times you don't, and you have to be discerning about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-fleischer/there-are-certain-times-you-rattle-the-press-s-cages-and-other-times/) [Ari Fleischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-fleischer/) > [Political journalists love graduate student intelligence, the ability to make clever allusions in seminars, and in 1999-2000 they hassled George W. Bush for not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-olasky/political-journalists-love-graduate-student-intelligence-the-ability/) [Marvin Olasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-olasky/) > [When we have an inner initiation into pure love, we are in contact with our true nature. Judgment of ourselves and others disappears. Compassionate,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beckwith/when-we-have-an-inner-initiation-into-pure-love-we-are-in-contact/) [Michael Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beckwith/) > [If you feel a great loneliness and a deep longing for human contact, you have to be extremely discerning...and ask yourself whether this situation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/if-you-feel-a-great-loneliness-and-a-deep-longing-for-human-contact/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) > [“He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent. He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning-he-who-knows-himself-is/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [My first job with a network was 'General Hospital,' and that was ABC. I feel like I have so much history with them, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-ray-newman/my-first-job-with-a-network-was-general-hospital-and-that-was-abc-i/) [Jaime Ray Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-ray-newman/) > [If I were to offer any advice to young writers, it would be this: be discriminating and be discerning about the work you set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-l-pez/if-i-were-to-offer-any-advice-to-young-writers-it-would-be-this-be/) [Barry Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-l-pez/) > [A discerning man, when he eats grapes, takes only the ripe ones and leaves the sour. Thus also the discerning mind carefully marks the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-climacus/a-discerning-man-when-he-eats-grapes-takes-only-the-ripe-ones-and/) [John Climacus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-climacus/) > ['The Observer's Very Short List' is another example of how the Observer Media Group offers its readers the most cutting-edge information, available in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-kushner/the-observer-s-very-short-list-is-another-example-of-how-the-observer/) [Jared Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-kushner/) > [“Not every good idea is God's perfect will for you; it may need discerning, wisdom and experience to tell the difference.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-lucas-d-shallua/not-every-good-idea-is-god-s-perfect-will-for-you-it-may-need/) [Dr. Lucas D. Shallua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-lucas-d-shallua/) > [We are all responsible to Jesus first, and then, under him, to various other persons and offices. Discerning the path of love and obedience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/we-are-all-responsible-to-jesus-first-and-then-under-him-to-various/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [A passion for continual learning, a refined, discerning ear for the moral and ethical consequences of their actions, and an understanding of the purposes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-g-bennis/a-passion-for-continual-learning-a-refined-discerning-ear-for-the/) [Warren G. Bennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-g-bennis/) > [The world of counterterrorism is like that old jigsaw puzzle in the back of the closet: Its many missing pieces and extra parts jumbled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-l-haney/the-world-of-counterterrorism-is-like-that-old-jigsaw-puzzle-in-the/) [Eric L. Haney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-l-haney/) [Browse all 140 Discerning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discerning/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He who knows other men is discerning;”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lao Tzu" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Discerning" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51c/lao-tzu-624_discerning_he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning-245_2455412.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51c/lao-tzu-624_discerning_he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning-245_2455412.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51c/lao-tzu-624_discerning_he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning-245_2455412.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He who knows other men is discerning;” — Lao Tzu", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Lao Tzu", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“He who knows other men is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/he-who-knows-other-men-is-discerning/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```