|
|
Peace is easily maintained while things are still at rest.
Trouble is easily handled before it starts.
What is brittle is easily broken.
What is minute is easily scattered.
Handle a problem before it appears.
Secure order before confusion begins.
A tree as big as a person’s embrace begins as a tiny shoot.
A terrace nine stories high rises from a shovelful of earth.
A journey of a thousand miles begins under your feet.
A person who interferes does harm, and those who grasp lose their hold.
Therefore, the True Person acts without striving and does no harm,
avoids grabbing and never loses hold.
People often ruin their ventures when they are on the verge of success.
So, be as careful at the end as at the beginning,
and your work will not be ruined.
Therefore, the True Person seeks freedom from desire,
does not value things that are hard to come by,
learns without scholarship,
brings people back to what they have passed by,
and assists the ten thousand things to find their own natures;
all without daring to interfere.
|
|
