English
64
"Before it move, hold it, Before it go wrong, mould it, Drain off water in winter before it freeze, Before weeds grow, sow them to the breeze. You can deal with what has not happened, can foresee Harmful events and not allow them to be. Though - as naturally as a seed becomes a tree of arm-wide girth- There can rise a nine-tiered tower from a man's handful of earth Or here at your feet a thousand-mile journey have birth, Quick action bruises, Quick grasping loses. Therefore a sane man's care is not to exert One move that can miss, one move that can hurt. Most people who miss, after almost winning, Should have 'known the end from the beginning.' A sane man is sane in knowing what things he can spare, In not wishing what most people wish, In not reaching for things that seem rare. The cultured might call him heathenish, This man of few words, because his one care Is not to interfere but to let nature renew The sense of direction men undo."
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votes
Author
Lao TzuBook
Tao Te Ching
Version: 10