---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The secret waits for eyes unclouded by…"
description: "\"“The secret waits for eyes unclouded by longing.”\" — Lao Tzu"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/lao-tzu-624_longing_the-secret-waits-for-eyes-unclouded-by-l_2465455.jpg"
---

#  The secret waits for eyes unclouded by longing.

![“The secret waits for eyes unclouded by longing.” quote by Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/lao-tzu-624_longing_the-secret-waits-for-eyes-unclouded-by-l_2465455.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/lao-tzu-624_longing_the-secret-waits-for-eyes-unclouded-by-l_2465455.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/lao-tzu-624_longing_the-secret-waits-for-eyes-unclouded-by-l_2465455.jpg)

> ““The secret waits for eyes unclouded by longing.””

[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.

Clarity of vision emerges when desire is set aside; longing clouds perception and hinders insight.

**In simple terms:** Clear sight comes without longing.

Key Takeaway

Release desire to see clearly.

Themes

clarity desire perception mindfulness

Mood

calm thoughtful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- meditation
- creative work
- decision making

Key Concepts

philosophy spirituality psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- What longings cloud your judgment?
- How might letting go improve your insight?

A Different Perspective

Desire can also motivate positive change.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Eyes Unclouded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyes-unclouded-704324/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Secret Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret-waits-704322/) [Unclouded Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unclouded-longing-704321/) [Waits Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waits-eyes-704323/)

## Related quotes

> [Truth waits for eyes unclouded by longing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/truth-waits-for-eyes-unclouded-by-longing/)

[Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/)

> [Um one hu waits with eyes open..dnt wana mis that moment wen I c it deliverd infront of m..um nt crossing no fingers nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiah-ounah-seboko/um-one-hu-waits-with-eyes-open-dnt-wana-mis-that-moment-wen-i-c-it/)

[Tiah Ounah Seboko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiah-ounah-seboko/)

> [See with eyes unclouded by hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hayao-miyazaki/see-with-eyes-unclouded-by-hate/)

[Hayao Miyazaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hayao-miyazaki/)

> [Do the kind of things that come from the heart, When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-the-kind-of-things-that-come-from-the-heart-when-you-do-you-won-t/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [But I still has enough longing for that concept that I didn't want to dispel it completely. Meaning: I didn't want to tell Lily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/but-i-still-has-enough-longing-for-that-concept-that-i-didn-t-want-to/)

[David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/)

> [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&amp;P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/)

[Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/)

> [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“My only enemy is the miles of distance that's there between us, my favorite place is the road that leads me to you -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyoti-patel/my-only-enemy-is-the-miles-of-distance-that-s-there-between-us-my/)

[Jyoti Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyoti-patel/)

> [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/)

[Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/)

> [“She pretended not to notice the look of longing in his eyes. It didn’t mean anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-o-brien/she-pretended-not-to-notice-the-look-of-longing-in-his-eyes-it-didn-t/)

[Kevin O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-o-brien/)

> [Tireless passion, fierce jealousy, longing to possess and crush-these alone were left of all his love for Rosalind; these remained to him as payment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/tireless-passion-fierce-jealousy-longing-to-possess-and-crush-these/)

[F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/)

> [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/)

[Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/)

> [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/)

[Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/)

> [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/)

[Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/)

> [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/)

[Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/)

## 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 Longing quotes

> [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/)

[Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/)

> [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/)

[Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/)

> [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/)

[Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/)

> [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/)

[Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/)

> [Tireless passion, fierce jealousy, longing to possess and crush-these alone were left of all his love for Rosalind; these remained to him as payment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/tireless-passion-fierce-jealousy-longing-to-possess-and-crush-these/)

[F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/)

> [“She pretended not to notice the look of longing in his eyes. It didn’t mean anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-o-brien/she-pretended-not-to-notice-the-look-of-longing-in-his-eyes-it-didn-t/)

[Kevin O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-o-brien/)

> [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/)

[Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/)

> [“My only enemy is the miles of distance that's there between us, my favorite place is the road that leads me to you -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyoti-patel/my-only-enemy-is-the-miles-of-distance-that-s-there-between-us-my/)

[Jyoti Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyoti-patel/)

> [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&amp;P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/)

[Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/)

> [But I still has enough longing for that concept that I didn't want to dispel it completely. Meaning: I didn't want to tell Lily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/but-i-still-has-enough-longing-for-that-concept-that-i-didn-t-want-to/)

[David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/)

> [Do the kind of things that come from the heart, When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-the-kind-of-things-that-come-from-the-heart-when-you-do-you-won-t/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“And how do you really feel? Like I'll never recover. Like I'll never draw another breath without half of it being a wish for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-seville/and-how-do-you-really-feel-like-i-ll-never-recover-like-i-ll-never/)

[Jane Seville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-seville/)

> [The future teachers I try to recruit are those show have refused to let themselves be neutered in this way, either in their private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kozol/the-future-teachers-i-try-to-recruit-are-those-show-have-refused-to/)

[Jonathan Kozol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kozol/)

> [The greatest tales, well told, awaken the fears and longings of the listeners. Each man hears a different story. Each is touched by it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-marillier/the-greatest-tales-well-told-awaken-the-fears-and-longings-of-the/)

[Juliet Marillier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliet-marillier/)

[Browse all 2,553 Longing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“The secret waits for eyes unclouded by longing.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Lao Tzu"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/the-secret-waits-for-eyes-unclouded-by-longing/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Longing"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/the-secret-waits-for-eyes-unclouded-by-longing/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/lao-tzu-624_longing_the-secret-waits-for-eyes-unclouded-by-l_2465455.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/lao-tzu-624_longing_the-secret-waits-for-eyes-unclouded-by-l_2465455.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/lao-tzu-624_longing_the-secret-waits-for-eyes-unclouded-by-l_2465455.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The secret waits for eyes unclouded by longing.” — 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": "“The secret waits for eyes unclouded...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/the-secret-waits-for-eyes-unclouded-by-longing/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/the-secret-waits-for-eyes-unclouded-by-longing/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
