--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Then appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and…" description: "\"“Then appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy.”\" — Lao Tzu" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/lao-tzu-624_hypocrisy_then-appeared-wisdom-and-shrewdness-and_2394352.jpg" --- # Then appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued… ![“Then appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy.” quote by Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/lao-tzu-624_hypocrisy_then-appeared-wisdom-and-shrewdness-and_2394352.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/lao-tzu-624_hypocrisy_then-appeared-wisdom-and-shrewdness-and_2394352.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/lao-tzu-624_hypocrisy_then-appeared-wisdom-and-shrewdness-and_2394352.jpg) > ““Then appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy.”” [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. Wisdom and cleverness appear, but they are followed by widespread hypocrisy. **In simple terms:** Cleverness can lead to hypocrisy. Key Takeaway Beware the gap between insight and behavior. Themes wisdom hypocrisy human nature Mood cautious reflective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - political discourse - leadership - personal reflection Key Concepts philosophy ethics psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does insight become pretense? - When does cleverness turn into deceit? A Different Perspective Hypocrisy may arise from self‑interest, not just wisdom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hypocrisy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrisy/) [Shrewdness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrewdness/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [When cleverness emerges There is great hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/when-cleverness-emerges-there-is-great-hypocrisy/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Particularly marijuana, I think is a great hypocrisy. I think frankly it contributes to a good deal of the sense of unfairness you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barney-frank/particularly-marijuana-i-think-is-a-great-hypocrisy-i-think-frankly/) [Barney Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barney-frank/) > [I've listened to Republicans say over and over again that we should focus on enforcing the laws that we have. The great hypocrisy of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-murphy/i-ve-listened-to-republicans-say-over-and-over-again-that-we-should/) [Chris Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-murphy/) > [The probability of finding a particular book increases in relation to the clarity of the store's focus, the diligence and shrewdness of the bookseller,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-zaid/the-probability-of-finding-a-particular-book-increases-in-relation-to/) [Gabriel Zaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-zaid/) > [Why do you need street smarts? Shrewdness? Toughness? It's to protect something soft that is going to be in danger if it's exposed at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/why-do-you-need-street-smarts-shrewdness-toughness-it-s-to-protect/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [There is a kind of shrewdness many men have that enables them to get money. It is the shrewdness of the fox after the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-anderson/there-is-a-kind-of-shrewdness-many-men-have-that-enables-them-to-get/) [Sherwood Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-anderson/) > [As far as the education of children is concerned I think they should be taught not the little virtues but the great ones. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-ginzburg/as-far-as-the-education-of-children-is-concerned-i-think-they-should/) [Natalia Ginzburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-ginzburg/) > [Jews are known for many things, but strength, swiftness, and agility are not among them. 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Good advice depends on the shrewdness of the prince who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/a-prince-who-is-not-himself-wise-cannot-be-wisely-advised-good-advice/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [What boy well raised can compare with your street gamin who has the knowledge and the shrewdness of a grown-up broker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/what-boy-well-raised-can-compare-with-your-street-gamin-who-has-the/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [The good Bishop of Assisi expressed a sort of horror at the hard life which the Little Brothers lived at the Portiuncula, without comforts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-good-bishop-of-assisi-expressed-a-sort-of-horror-at-the-hard-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When a wolf is hungry it befriends sheep.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/when-a-wolf-is-hungry-it-befriends-sheep/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) ## 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 Hypocrisy quotes > [Everybody should read 'Slaughterhouse-Five' by Kurt Vonnegut. This book is about the hypocrisy of war, told in satire, and is hard-hitting and truthful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalki-koechlin/everybody-should-read-slaughterhouse-five-by-kurt-vonnegut-this-book/) [Kalki Koechlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalki-koechlin/) > [Honesty in politics is the result of strength; hypocrisy is the result of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/honesty-in-politics-is-the-result-of-strength-hypocrisy-is-the-result/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [ “In all, the future secretary of defense and wartime vice president\[, Dick Cheney,\] would receive five deferments during the Vietnam War, protecting him from… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-savage/in-all-the-future-secretary-of-defense-and-wartime-vice-president/) Charlie Savage > [“If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest men are often under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-men-could-see-us-as-we-really-are-they-would-be-a-little-amazed/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Bigoted people are just scholars who lack any sort of legitimate credentials to answer why they're bigoted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doctavius/bigoted-people-are-just-scholars-who-lack-any-sort-of-legitimate/) Doctavius > [The hypocrisy and false piety of the deniers aside, the relationships of gays have no effect on heteros. Especially all the heteros who've done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/the-hypocrisy-and-false-piety-of-the-deniers-aside-the-relationships/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [Hypocrisy is a detriment to progress. There's always a hidden agenda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-flynt/hypocrisy-is-a-detriment-to-progress-there-s-always-a-hidden-agenda/) [Larry Flynt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-flynt/) > [Want of principle is power. Truth and honesty set a limit to our efforts, which impudence and hypocrisy easily overleap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/want-of-principle-is-power-truth-and-honesty-set-a-limit-to-our/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Mayor De Blasio's appointment of Bill Bratton as police commissioner is the height of hypocrisy. Asking Bratton to stop racial profiling and stop and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-barron/mayor-de-blasio-s-appointment-of-bill-bratton-as-police-commissioner/) Charles Barron > [It's about time Hypocrisy should be adopted as a religion, considering it's got more followers than any other religion on this planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashutosh-cheulkar/it-s-about-time-hypocrisy-should-be-adopted-as-a-religion-considering/) [Ashutosh Cheulkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashutosh-cheulkar/) > [I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/i-hate-a-woman-who-offers-herself-because-she-ought-to-do-so-and-cold/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/one-can-imagine-the-look-the-two-lovers-exchanged-it-was-like-a-flame/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [A wicked mortal is not the idea of God. He is little else than the expression of error. To suppose that sin, lust, hatred,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-baker-eddy/a-wicked-mortal-is-not-the-idea-of-god-he-is-little-else-than-the/) [Mary Baker Eddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-baker-eddy/) > [“even the worst men wanted to be perceived as better than they were. How else could hypocrisy have risen to such delirious levels?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-leon/even-the-worst-men-wanted-to-be-perceived-as-better-than-they-were/) [Donna Leon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-leon/) > [What I object to in Mother is that she wants me to think her thoughts. Apart from the question of hypocrisy, I prefer my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-deland/what-i-object-to-in-mother-is-that-she-wants-me-to-think-her-thoughts/) [Margaret Deland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-deland/) [Browse all 1,238 Hypocrisy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrisy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Then appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lao Tzu" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/then-appeared-wisdom-and-shrewdness-and-there-ensued-great-hypocrisy/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hypocrisy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/then-appeared-wisdom-and-shrewdness-and-there-ensued-great-hypocrisy/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/lao-tzu-624_hypocrisy_then-appeared-wisdom-and-shrewdness-and_2394352.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/lao-tzu-624_hypocrisy_then-appeared-wisdom-and-shrewdness-and_2394352.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/lao-tzu-624_hypocrisy_then-appeared-wisdom-and-shrewdness-and_2394352.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Then appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy.” — 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": "“Then appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/then-appeared-wisdom-and-shrewdness-and-there-ensued-great-hypocrisy/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/then-appeared-wisdom-and-shrewdness-and-there-ensued-great-hypocrisy/#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 } } ] } ```