Daodejing - Chapter Twenty Nine

 

道德經  - 第二十九章

將欲取天下而為之，吾見其不得已。

天下神器，不可為也，為者敗之，執者失之。

故物或行或隨；

或歔或吹；

或強或羸；

或挫或隳。

是以聖人去甚，去奢，去泰。

Daodejing - Chapter Twenty Nine

Do you want to improve the world?  I don't think it can be done.

The world is sacred, it can't be improved.

If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it.

If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it.

There is a time for being ahead, a time for being behind, 

a time for being in motion, a time for being at rest, 

a time for being vigorous, a time for being exhausted, 

a time for being safe, a time for being in danger.

The master sees things as they are, without trying to control them.

she lets them go their own way, and resides at the centre of the circle.

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=2596
2. This chapter on the above video starts at 43.15 and ends at 44.50.
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