To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.

The saying contrasts two complementary effects of love: loving another deeply can steady and empower the lover (strength as an inner resource), while receiving deep love can embolden the beloved (courage as the willingness to act despite fear). Read this way, love is not merely sentiment but a relational force that reshapes character—one side cultivating resilience through devotion and responsibility, the other fostering confidence through acceptance and support. Although widely attributed to Laozi, the aphoristic balance and modern diction suggest it may be a later paraphrase inspired by Daoist themes about softness, receptivity, and the paradoxical power of yielding.