Tao Te Ching, Chapter 48
Lao Tzu
Lao Tzu offers a radical inversion: true wisdom lies in subtraction. The Taoist path urges us to shed layers of learned behavior and ambition, reaching a state of 'wu wei'—effortless action. This counters the Confucian ideal of rigorous self-cultivation, emphasizing instead a more natural alignment with the flow of life.