“He who knows the Dao does not speak of it easily; he who speaks of it easily does not know it.”Lao Zi · Cartea despre Dao și Virtute · -400 · capitolul 56
Who understands deeply speaks with difficulty; who speaks fluently recites empty formulas.
The book's first line already states that the Dao that can be spoken is not the true Dao. The mechanism is the gap between direct knowing and verbalization: deep experience outruns words, and whoever finds all the words at once is actually reciting formulas, not living anything. A concrete example: someone who has been through a real loss hesitates to explain it, while someone who has only read about grief delivers a fluent and empty speech about it.
Why it matters It is a healthy filter against the expert with a quick answer for everything, and a call for humility about what truly matters.