Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished
Lao Tzu’s chapter — but a named translator’s EnglishLao Tzufl. 6th century BCE (traditional) · semi-legendary Chinese sage, reputed author of the Tao Te Ching
This is a real rendering of Tao Te Ching chapter 73, not an invented line. Archie J. Bahm (1907–1996), an American philosopher at the University of New Mexico, published his English version in 1958. Describing Nature, his chapter 73 runs: “Nature itself has the patience to endure insult… It does not hurry; yet everything is accomplished.” The popular quotation is that last sentence with “Nature” substituted for Bahm’s “It” — and Bahm’s name removed.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished” Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. —Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching ch. 73, in Archie J. Bahm’s English version (the popular form drops the translator)
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In context
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Provenance
Where the wording really comes from
Reputed author
Lao Tzu (Laozi)
Work
Tao Te Ching, chapter 73
Translator
Archie J. Bahm (1907–1996)
Chinese
繟然而善謀
“Nature itself has the patience to endure insult… It does not hurry; yet everything is accomplished.” — Tao Te Ching ch. 73, trans. Archie J. Bahm (1958). Quoted briefly for identification; the translation is under copyright.
The popular one-liner is Bahm’s last sentence with “It” replaced by its antecedent, “Nature”. Nothing is invented; the translator is simply dropped.
The exact sentence is credited to Lao Tzu across quote sites with no work, chapter, or translator — Goodreads lists it with 1,400+ likes and no source ↗.
Matching the wording against published English versions locates it in Archie J. Bahm’s rendering of chapter 73 — not chapter 37, and not a paraphrase ↗.
The Chinese of ch. 73, 繟然而善謀, is rendered elsewhere as “without haste”, confirming “does not hurry” as an ordinary translation of that phrase rather than an invention.
The ancient Chinese original is public domain, but rights attach to the exact English wording — and that wording is Archie J. Bahm’s translation, published 12 June 1958 (registration A360749) and renewed by Bahm on 15 May 1986 (US Copyright Office renewal RE293955). A renewed 1958 US work runs 95 years from publication, so this translation is under copyright until the end of 2053. The line is quoted here briefly for identification and commentary; reproducing it on a public-facing or commercial document is not cleared.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
A real translation, stripped of its translator
Not a fabrication. The sentence is a lightly edited line from a published English version of the Tao Te Ching — but it circulates as though Lao Tzu wrote those English words himself, with no translator named.
✕
The English wordingLao Tzu — as though the English words were his own translation
The English is Archie J. Bahm’s rendering of ch. 73 — “It does not hurry; yet everything is accomplished” — quoted with “Nature” swapped in for his “It” and his name removed. The Chinese, 繟然而善謀, is given elsewhere as “at ease, and yet good at laying plans” (Lau) or “without haste” (Wu), so “does not hurry” is an ordinary reading of the phrase.
✓Verdict: the passage is genuinely Lao Tzu’s (Tao Te Ching ch. 73), and the English is Archie J. Bahm’s — so quoting it as Lao Tzu’s own words, unattributed to a translator, is the error.
Context
Why it resonates
The quote endures because it captures a real and central Daoist intuition: that the natural world produces abundant results without strain, striving, or haste. In the Tao Te Ching, this is the doctrine of wu wei — often translated “non-action” or “effortless action” — the idea that the most effective way to act is to stop forcing and move with the grain of things.
What makes the modern sentence so shareable is that it is smoother and more “productivity”-friendly than most literal renderings — but that smoothness is Bahm’s, not an anonymous internet edit. His “yet everything is accomplished” is itself a free rendering of 善謀, which most translators give as “good at laying plans”. The loss is the translator’s name, not the provenance.
The idea is Lao Tzu’s. The sentence is ours — a modern age’s.
On chapter 73 and the way of heaven
Chapter 73 contrasts two kinds of courage and then describes the way of heaven: it does not contend yet wins, does not speak yet is answered, is not summoned yet comes. The clause behind the quotation is 繟然而善謀 — commonly “at ease, and yet good at laying plans”. Bahm compresses that run into “It does not hurry; yet everything is accomplished”, which is why the popular English sounds more purposeful than the Chinese strictly warrants.
Explore
Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
fl. 6th century BCE (traditional) · semi-legendary Chinese sage · reputed author of the Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu (“Old Master,” also romanized Laozi) is the semi-legendary figure traditionally credited with founding philosophical Daoism and composing the Tao Te Ching. Modern scholars regard him as quasi-mythical and the text as a layered compilation reaching its familiar form around the 4th–3rd centuries BCE. The book’s central teaching of wu wei — effortless, non-forcing action in harmony with the Way — is the genuine source of the sentiment behind this popular quote.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Tao Te Ching, ch. 73 (trans. Bahm, 1958)
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, ch. 73, trans. Archie J. Bahm, Tao Teh King (New York: F. Ungar, 1958), copyright renewed 1986 (RE293955). The popular sentence substitutes “Nature” for Bahm’s “It” and omits the translator.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished’?” Last verified 28 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/nature-does-not-hurry-yet-everything-is-accomplished/