What is the De in Taoism?德

De is the natural manifestation and expression of the great Dao in all things between heaven and earth; De is the true guarantee that everyone can cultivate to attain a happy life. It can thus be seen that De is the law governing life and society. Similarly, De is also humanity's outlook on life and values.

A person with correct values is bound to be one with self-restraint. They know what they truly need and what they do not. When such a person understands the laws of nature and acts in accordance with them, even though they can distinguish between beauty and ugliness, goodness and evil, they know to strive for beauty and goodness while discarding ugliness and evil as much as possible. In this way, they will naturally avoid greed and let everything follow its natural course.