老子言「水」德，第八章最為清晰，而〈水地〉篇亦可視為管子「水」哲學綱目。老子認為，「水」德肖似「道」之特性，在〈水地〉篇則點出「水」為宇宙萬物根源，且能育藏神怪，多有稷下色彩，異於老子；衍生治水之說，及水、民之合「性」，亦異於老子。《管子》的「水」哲學：「居善地」的居下；「心善淵」的匿精怪；「言善信」，《管子》言不染之「清」、「白」（精）；「正善治」，要洗清「髒惡」、要「平正」（正）；「動善時」，要合道能止，貫穿諸德。除卻〈水地〉之餘篇，亦有補足：「居善地」，水性順流而下，有一必然之「勢」，衍出治水法則；「動善時」，《管子》強調「觀勢」、「任變」，經由諸篇補充，對《老子》的異詮，更能完整呈現。

The clearest comment about the “water” philosophy of Lao-Tzu (老子) was in eighth chapter. The clearest comment about the "water" philosophy of Kuan-tse (管子) was in water-earth (水地篇). Water-earth (水地篇) points out that “water”is the source of everything, and Kuan-tse (管子) thought that “water” can hide mysterious beings. Kuan tse (管子) also got ideas about channelizing riversand watercourses from the "water" of philosophy. He found that human nature was deeply affected by water. The “water” philosophy of Kuan-tse (管子): humility, hiding mysterious beings, pure nature, washing spots off, standard, following the law of Nature. Besides water-earth (水地篇), many chapters provided other ideas about the "water" philosophy: “water” flows from high ground to low ground, and it shows that every action has inevitability; Kuan-tse (管子) emphasized that we must understand tendency and deal properly with changes.