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Who really said it

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love

Not Lao Tzu — a modern saying of unknown origin Lao Tzu (misattributed) fl. 6th century BC (traditional & semi-legendary) · Chinese sage, reputed author of the Tao Te Ching
Disputed Rights unconfirmed

This line appears in no translation of the Tao Te Ching and in none of Lao Tzu’s attested writing. Wikiquote files it as misattributed and “of unknown origin and date,” while Tao Te Ching translator Stefan Stenudd traces its earliest English appearance only to Laurence J. Peter’s Peter’s Quotations (1977), which credited Lao Tzu but gave no source. Treat it as a modern feel-good saying pinned on Laozi, not a genuine quotation.

Last verified 10 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love” Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. —commonly misattributed to Lao Tzu; actually of unknown origin, no earlier than 1977

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Lao Tzu. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.

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In context

Evoking the world of Lao Tzu (Laozi) — Chinese sage · reputed author of the Tao Te Ching. Theme: "Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

Where the quote actually comes from

Claimed author
Lao Tzu (Laozi)
Claimed work
Tao Te Ching (道德經)
Status
Not in the text — misattributed, origin unknown
Earliest trace
Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977), p. 279

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.

Widely captioned as “Lao Tzu” across social media and quote sites — but the wording matches no chapter of the Tao Te Ching in any standard translation.

Stefan Stenudd, Fake Lao Tzu Quotes — this line examined

How we verified this

  • Wikiquote lists the line in its Laozi “Misattributed” section, calling it “of unknown origin and date.”
  • Tao Te Ching translator Stefan Stenudd examines it among his Fake Lao Tzu Quotes, noting its earliest English appearance is Laurence J. Peter’s Peter’s Quotations (1977), which cited no source.
  • It circulates on Goodreads and BrainyQuote under Lao Tzu’s name, none of them citing a chapter or translation.
  • Stenudd notes the word “love” is itself a tell — a concept alien to Lao Tzu, who wrote in Chapter 5 that Heaven and Earth “are not kind.”

The wording has no identifiable author. Its earliest documented appearance is Laurence J. Peter’s Peter’s Quotations (1977), which reproduced it as an unsourced “Lao Tzu” saying, and Wikiquote records it as “of unknown origin and date.” With no traceable original work or author, no copyright status can responsibly be asserted — and it is certainly not a public-domain line from the ancient Tao Te Ching.

Fact-check

How Lao Tzu got the credit

The line is one of the most-shared “Lao Tzu” quotes online, yet it belongs to no chapter of the Tao Te Ching and has no identifiable author.

Lao Tzu Misattributed

It matches no chapter of the Tao Te Ching in any standard translation. Wikiquote files it under “Misattributed” as “of unknown origin and date.”

Laurence J. Peter’s Peter’s Quotations (1977) Unsourced

Its first documented English appearance is a quotation anthology that printed it as a Lao Tzu saying with no chapter and no citation, per Stefan Stenudd’s analysis.

The word “love” Style tell

Stenudd observes that “love” is essentially absent from Lao Tzu’s vocabulary; the Tao Te Ching’s Chapter 5 even states that Heaven and Earth “are not kind.”

There is no genuine Lao Tzu source for this line — it is a modern aphorism of unknown authorship, traceable no earlier than a 1977 quotation book.

Context

Why the misattribution sticks

The saying’s tidy three-part structure — words, thinking, giving — reads like ancient wisdom, and Lao Tzu’s name lends instant gravity. That combination is exactly what makes a modern aphorism go viral under a philosopher’s byline while the real trail runs cold in a 20th-century quotation anthology.

The lesson isn’t that the sentiment is bad — it’s that “Lao Tzu said” is doing unearned work. When a line praises “love” and appears in no chapter of the text it’s ascribed to, the honest label is “author unknown.”

It appears in no chapter of the Tao Te Ching — and no earlier than 1977.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Kindness Love Character

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Fake Lao Tzu Quotes — this line examinedtaoistic.com

Tao Te Ching translator Stefan Stenudd’s source-by-source takedown, with the 1977 earliest-trace.
Laozi — Misattributed sectionen.wikiquote.org

Wikiquote lists this line as misattributed and “of unknown origin and date.”
Tao Te Ching (Legge translation)gutenberg.org

Full public-domain Tao Te Ching to search — the line appears in no chapter.
Quote on Goodreads (attributed to Lao-Tzu)goodreads.com

Shows the scale of the unsourced misattribution across user quote sites.
Lao Tzu quote pagebrainyquote.com

Another high-traffic site repeating the attribution with no citation.

Misattributed to

The name the quote leans on

Lao Tzu (Laozi)

fl. 6th century BC (traditional) · Chinese sage · reputed author of the Tao Te Ching

Lao Tzu (“Old Master”) is the semi-legendary figure traditionally credited with the Tao Te Ching, the foundational text of Taoism, though many scholars doubt he was a single historical person. His genuine themes — wu wei (effortless action), humility, and the ineffable Tao — make his name a magnet for modern feel-good aphorisms he never wrote. As translator Stefan Stenudd notes, sayings that praise “love” sit oddly against the actual text, which insists Heaven and Earth are impartial rather than kind.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Sources

Earliest documented in Laurence J. Peter, Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (New York: William Morrow, 1977), 279, attributed to Lao Tzu without source; classified misattributed by Stefan Stenudd, Fake Lao Tzu Quotes, and by Wikiquote (“Laozi,” Misattributed).

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love’?” Last verified 10 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/kindness-in-words-creates-confidence-kindness-in-thinking

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