Virtue (de) lies within; gain lies without.
The highest virtue does not display outward virtue. This means the spirit does not indulge externally.
When the spirit does not indulge outwardly, one’s inner self is preserved; this preservation is called virtue. Virtue means attaining wholeness within oneself.
All virtue gathers through non‑action, forms through freedom from desire, secures peace through non‑deliberation, and gains steadiness through non‑forced use.
To act or crave causes virtue to lose its abode; losing its abode, the self cannot be whole.
To employ or deliberate makes virtue unsteady; unsteady virtue achieves no merit, and the lack of merit harms virtue itself.
Seeking virtue deliberately yields no true virtue; not performing outward virtue keeps genuine virtue intact.
Hence the saying: “The highest virtue does not seek virtue, therefore it possesses true virtue.”
Note
This passage shows Han Fei‘s syncretic thought: true virtue is internal wholeness gained through stillness and non‑action, not outward show. Deliberate striving for virtue destroys it.
Han Fei
Late Warring‑States Legalist philosopher. This passage is excerpted from Explaining Laozi (Jie Lao), his commentary on the Dao De Jing. He integrates Daoist inner cultivation ideas into Legalist political thought for monarchical self‑discipline.
Virtue (De) in Daoism and Legalism
In Daoism, de is the inherent cosmic virtue of the Dao; Han Fei re‑interprets it as inner self‑preservation, focusing on mental stillness, non‑desire and non‑action.
The Highest Virtue Does Not Seek Virtue
A core quote from the Dao De Jing. Han Fei explains it psychologically: true inner virtue is ruined by deliberate performance, craving or calculation.
Non‑Action (Wu‑wei)
Han‑style wu‑wei means restraining personal desire and intellect, not doing arbitrary things, which serves Legalist autocratic governance by stabilizing the ruler’s mind.
德者，內也。得者，外也。上德不德，言其神不淫於外也。神不淫於外則身全，身全之謂德。德者，得身也。凡德者，以無為集，以無欲成，以不思安，以不用固。為之欲之，則德無舍，德無舍則不全。用之思之則不固，不固則無功，無功則生於德。德則無德，不德則在有德。故曰：「上德不德，是以有德。」
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