Home / Chinese Wisdom Cards / 聪明难,糊涂更难
Wisdom Deep

聪明难,糊涂更难

cōng míng nán, hú tú gèng nán
Being smart is hard; being foolish is harder

clever is hard, muddled is harder

It's easy to be clever, but truly letting go of worries and ...

It's easy to be clever, but truly letting go of worries and pretending to be ignorant takes greater wisdom. It refers to the art of knowing when not to overthink.

Attributed to the Qing dynasty scholar Zheng Banqiao, who famously wrote '难糊涂' (hard to be muddled), reflecting a Taoist-influenced philosophy of simplicity.

Someone might say this when they choose not to react to a provocation, or when they advise a friend to stop overanalyzing and just let things be.

This saying values emotional intelligence and inner peace over mere intellect. It signals that sometimes the wisest action is to consciously ignore trivial matters.

#wisdom #patience #human-nature

Discover More Chinese Sayings

Draw random cards from hundreds of real Chinese folk sayings and proverbs. Each flip reveals what Chinese people actually mean.

🎴 Play Chinese Wisdom Cards