Powerful men are well advised not to use violence,

For violence has a habit of returning;

Thorns and weeds grow wherever an army goes,

And lean years follow a great war.

A general is well advised

To achieve nothing more than his orders:

Not to take advantage of his victory.

Nor to glory, boast or pride himself;

To do what is dictated by necessity,

But not by choice.

For even the strongest force will weaken with time,

And then its violence will return, and kill it.

Armies are tools of violence;

They cause men to hate and fear.

The sage will not join them.

His purpose is creation;

Their purpose is destruction.

Weapons are tools of violence,

Not of the sage;

He uses them only when there is no choice,

And then calmly, and with tact,

For he finds no beauty in them.

Whoever finds beauty in weapons

Delights in the slaughter of men;

And who delights in slaughter

Cannot content himself with peace.

So slaughters must be mourned

And conquest celebrated with a funeral.

The Way has no true shape,

And therefore none can control it.

If a ruler could control the Way

All things would follow

In harmony with his desire,

And sweet rain would fall,

Effortlessly slaking every thirst.