Daodejing - Chapter Thirty

 

道德經  - 第三十章

以道佐人主者，不以兵強天下。

其事好還。

師之所處，荊棘生焉。

大軍之後，必有凶年。

善有果而已，不敢以取強。

果而勿矜，果而勿伐，果而勿驕。

果而不得已，果而勿強。

物壯則老，是謂不道，不道早已。

Daodejing - Chapter Thirty

Whoever relies on the Dao in governing men, doesn't try to force issues, or defeat enemies by force of arms.  

For every force there is a counter-force.

Violence even well-intentioned always rebounds upon oneself.

The master does his job and then stops.

He understands that the universe is forever out of control.

And that trying to dominate events goes against the current of the Dao.

Because he believes in himself he doesn't try to convince others.

Because he is content with himself he doesn't need others approval.

Because he accepts himself the whole world accepts him.

References

1. The above translation is based on the translation by poet, translator, scholar and anthologist, Stephen Mitchell.  His reading of the work can be found on the following YouTube video: Tao Te Ching, The Book Of The Way by Lao Tzu: https://youtu.be/t109UFLSQhk?t=2691
2. This chapter on the above video starts at 44.50 and ends at 46.10..
3. You can find the complete 81 chapters of Daodejing in Chinese and English (James Legge version) in the ctext.org website: https://ctext.org/dao-de-jing