What lies still is easy to grasp;

What lies far off is easy to anticipate;

What is brittle is easy to shatter;

What is small is easy to disperse.

Yet a tree broader than a man can embrace is born of a tiny shoot;

A dam greater than a river can overflow starts with a clod of earth;

A journey of a thousand miles begins at the spot under one's feet.

Therefore deal with things before they happen;

Create order before there is confusion.

He who acts, spoils;

He who grasps, loses.

People often fail on the verge of success;

Take care at the end as at the beginning,

So that you may avoid failure.

The sage desires no-desire,

Values no-value,

Learns no-learning,

And returns to the places that people have forgotten;

He would help all people to become natural,

But then he would not be natural.

The ancients did not seek to rule people with knowledge,

But to help them become natural.

It is difficult for knowledgeable people to become natural;

So to use law to control a nation weakens the nation,

But to use nature to control a nation strengthens the nation.

Understanding these two paths is understanding subtlety;

Subtlety runs deep, ranges wide,

Resolves confusion and preserves peace.