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信言不美，美言不信(xìn yán bù měi，měi yán bù xìn)

可信的話并不漂亮，漂亮的話多不可信。老子鑒于當時社會風氣與文風的浮華不實，倡導返樸歸真與自然平淡的生活方式和文學風格。魏晉時代，文人崇尚自然素樸，反對虛浮華麗的創作風氣，出現了像陶淵明這樣偉大的詩人，文藝創作也倡導真實自然的思想與風格。自此之后，中國古代文藝以素樸自然為最高的審美境界。

Trustworthy Words May Not Be Fine-sounding; Fine-sounding Words May Not Be Trustworthy.
To address the extravagance in social mores and in the style of writing of his time, Laozi advocated simple and natural lifestyles and literary presentations. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, men of letters valued natural and simple literary styles and were opposed to extravagant and superficial styles. This line of thought led to the emergence of great poets like Tao Yuanming, and shaped literary writings to reflect direct thoughts and natural expressions. Subsequently, ancient Chinese literature and art took simplicity and naturalness as the highest aesthetic standards.

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【引例】

信言不美，美言不信。善者不辯，辯者不善。(《老子·八十一章》)

老子疾偽，故稱“美言不信”，而五千精妙，則非棄美矣。(劉勰《文心雕龍·情采》)

Trustworthy words may not be fine-sounding; fine-sounding words may not be trustworthy. A kind-hearted person may not be an eloquent speaker; a glib person is often not kind. (Laozi)

Laozi detested pretense, so he said, “Flowery rhetoric words may not be trustworthy.” However, the 5,000-word Dao De Jing (another name of Laozi) he wrote is not only profound in ideas but reads beautifully. That means he was not opposed to writings using fine words. (Liu Xie: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons)