Did Lao Tzu say "The way to do is to be"?

Q: Did Lao Tzu say "The way to do is to be"?

Not confirmed. These exact eight words are the closing line of chapter 47 in Witter Bynner's 1944 "American version" of the Tao Te Ching — a free, poetic rendering, not a literal translation. The thought traces to Lao Tzu's chapter 47, but the memorable phrasing is Bynner's, and the line only became a stand-alone "quote" through 1968 Texas graffiti.

Who really said it

The way to do is to be

Attributed to Lao Tzu fl. 6th century BC (traditional) · semi-legendary Chinese sage, reputed author of the Tao Te Ching

Attributed In copyright

These exact eight words are the closing line of chapter 47 in Witter Bynner’s 1944 “American version” of the Tao Te Ching — a free, poetic rendering, not a literal translation. The thought traces to Lao Tzu’s chapter 47, but the memorable phrasing is Bynner’s, and the line only became a stand-alone “quote” through 1968 Texas graffiti.

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

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Unconfirmed quote & credit

“The way to do is to be” Lao Tzu (attributed) — the exact wording is the closing line of chapter 47 in Witter Bynner's 1944 translation "The Way of Life According to Laotzu," popularized by 1968 Texas graffiti.

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Estate of Witter Bynner / The Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry; original publisher John Day Company (rights later with Penguin)). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of Lao Tzu — semi-legendary Chinese sage · reputed author of the Tao Te Ching. Theme: "The way to do is to be". 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.

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Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "The way to do is to be". 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 line actually comes from

Work: Tao Te Ching, chapter 47
Translation: Witter Bynner, The Way of Life According to Laotzu: An American Version (John Day Company, 1944)
Popularized: Texas warehouse graffiti, reported in the Dallas Morning News, 29 Jan 1968
Status: Genuine translation line — but Bynner’s phrasing, not Lao Tzu’s literal words

There is no need to run outside
For better seeing,
Nor to peer from a window. Rather abide
At the center of your being;
For the more you leave it, the less you learn.
Search your heart and see
If he is wise who takes each turn:
The way to do is to be.

Chapter 47 in Witter Bynner’s 1944 rendering. The famous line is the stanza’s final clause; lifted out alone, it reads as an epigram Bynner never intended it to be.

Bynner’s chapter 47, side by side with other translations

How we verified this

Quote Investigator traces the stand-alone quote to a 1968 graffito: businessman Bud Crew wrote “The way to do is to be.—Leo-tzu” on a warehouse wall, per columnist Paul Crume in the Dallas Morning News, 29 Jan 1968.
A salesman answered underneath — “The way to be is to do.—Dale Carnegie” — and an anonymous wit capped it with “Do be, do be, do.—Frank Sinatra,” per Quote Investigator.
The eight words are real, though: they close chapter 47 of Witter Bynner’s 1944 translation — a rendering scholars treat as creative interpretation rather than literal Lao Tzu.
Tao specialist Stefan Stenudd files it among questionable Laozi quotes, noting it is Bynner’s wording and reads more like wordplay than wu wei.

In copyright

The exact wording is a 1944 translation line by Witter Bynner (1881–1968), first published by the John Day Company — well after 1931, so it is in copyright in the United States, held by Bynner’s estate/foundation and publisher. Lao Tzu’s ancient Chinese original is long in the public domain, but this particular English phrasing is not.

Fact-check

How a 1944 poet’s line became “ancient wisdom”

The line is posted everywhere as timeless Lao Tzu, but its real path runs through a modern American poet and a Texas warehouse wall.

Witter Bynner (1944), not Lao Tzu himself paraphrase

These eight words are Bynner’s closing clause for chapter 47 in his self-described “American version.” Literal translations of the same chapter render nothing like this pithy epigram, per the side-by-side comparison.

1968 Texas graffiti misquote

Quote Investigator finds its fame began when businessman Bud Crew chalked it on a warehouse wall crediting “Leo-tzu” — reported in the Dallas Morning News on 29 Jan 1968.

Dale Carnegie and Frank Sinatra joke

The wall grew a wordplay chain — “The way to be is to do” (pinned on Carnegie) and “Do be, do be, do” (on Sinatra) — none of which those men actually said, per Quote Investigator.

The idea is Lao Tzu’s chapter 47; the memorable eight words are Witter Bynner’s 1944 phrasing, launched into pop culture by graffiti — not a literal saying of the ancient sage.

Context

Why the mix-up sticks

Bynner didn’t read classical Chinese; he built his 1944 “American version” from an earlier scholar’s guidance and his own poet’s ear. The result is beloved for its grace but is treated by scholars as creative interpretation rather than a faithful translation — which is exactly why a memorable line like this one has no counterpart in more literal renderings.

Lifted out of its stanza and stripped of Bynner’s name, the clause reads like an ancient one-liner. The 1968 graffiti chain did the rest, welding it to “Lao Tzu” in the popular mind decades before it reached today’s quote sites.

The idea is Lao Tzu’s; the eight words are Bynner’s.

Explore

Filed under

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

Wisdom Character Simplicity

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.

Quote Origin: "To Be Is To Do / To Do Is To Be / Do Be Do Be Do"quoteinvestigator.com

The anchor investigation, tracing the graffiti chain to the Dallas Morning News, 29 Jan 1968.

Tao Te Ching chapter 47 — Bynner and 25+ other translationsegreenway.com

Shows Bynner’s line in context beside literal translations that render nothing like it.

Fake Lao Tzu Quote: "The way to do is to be"taoistic.com

Stefan Stenudd on why the standalone quote misreads Bynner’s creative phrasing.

The Way of Life According to Laotzu (Bynner, 1944)archive.org

Full text of Bynner’s translation, the actual source of the wording.

Laozi — Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

Collected sourced and misattributed lines credited to Laozi, including Bynner-derived phrasings.

Witter Bynnerpoets.org

Academy of American Poets biography of the translator behind the wording.

The attributed sage

About Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu

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

Lao Tzu (Laozi, “Old Master”) is the semi-legendary Chinese figure traditionally credited with the Tao Te Ching, the foundational text of Taoism. His actual existence and authorship are debated by scholars, and the surviving text is a compilation whose exact wording depends entirely on its translator. Chapter 47 — the source of this line — counsels inner cultivation over outward striving, but says nothing so epigrammatic as “the way to do is to be” until Witter Bynner phrased it that way in 1944.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Lao Tzu, The Way of Life According to Laotzu: An American Version, trans. Witter Bynner (New York: John Day Company, 1944), ch. 47. Earliest documented standalone use: Dallas Morning News, 29 January 1968 (per Quote Investigator).

MLA (9th ed.)

Lao Tzu. The Way of Life According to Laotzu: An American Version, ch. 47. Translated by Witter Bynner, John Day Company, 1944.

APA (7th ed.)

Lao Tzu. (1944). The way of life according to Laotzu: An American version (W. Bynner, Trans.). John Day Company.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘The way to do is to be’?” Last verified 10 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/the-way-to-do-is-to-be