This is actually a quote from a 2004 book by Aileen Miga and Janice Hughes called Inspired Wealth: Financial Leadership for the 21st Century, page 44. The misattribution has been attested since at least 2006.Gudmundur O. Sigurdarson The first step: a peek at the real world

Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.

— Laozi

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream." in the context of "This is actually a quote from a 2004 book by Aileen Miga and Janice Hughes called Inspired Wealth: Financial Leadership for the 21st Century, page 44. The misattribution has been attested since at least 2006.Gudmundur O. Sigurdarson The first step: a peek at the real world" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Laozi" (Misattributed) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Laozi

About Laozi

老子 Lǎozi (c. 6th – 5th century BC) was a Chinese monist philosopher; also called Lao Zi, Lao Tzu, Lao Tse, or Lao Tze. The Tao Te Ching (道德經, Pinyin: Dào Dé Jīng, or Dao De Jing) represents the sole document generally attributed to Laozi.