Laozi
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。
James Legge
If any one should wish to get the kingdom for himself, and to effect this by what he does, I see that he will not succeed. The kingdom is a spirit-like thing, and cannot be got by active doing. He who would so win it destroys it; he who would hold it in his grasp loses it.
The course and nature of things is such that What was in front is now behind; What warmed anon we freezing find. Strength is of weakness oft the spoil; The store in ruins mocks our toil. Hence the sage puts away excessive effort, extravagance, and easy indulgence.
Victor H. Mair
Of those who wish to take hold of all-under-heaven and act upon it, I have seen that they do not succeed. Now, All-under-heaven is a sacred vessel, Not something that can be acted upon; Who acts upon it will be defeated, Who grasps it will lose it. Of creatures, some march forward, others follow behind; some are shiveringly silent, others are all puffed up; some are strong, others are meek; some pile up, others collapse. For these reasons, The sage rejects extremes, rejects excess, rejects extravagance.
C. Spurgeon Medhurst
I perceive that no desire can succeed which has as its objective the moulding of the state. The state possesses a divine capacity, which cannot be moulded.
To make is to mar; to grasp is to lose.
Thus in nature some things lead, others follow; some inspire, others expire; some are strong, some are weak; some survive, others succumb; hence, the Holy Man renounces excess, extravagance, exaltation. [^1]
N.B.—This chapter has a special message for the present time, when the European and American races are yearly bringing the peoples of Africa and of Asia more under their control, and when the Church is aggressively spreading its faith among the nations of the earth. All power exercised over those who are weaker, whether it be secular or spiritual, is an evil when it subverts natural growth; or denationalizes any, either in thought or in act. We can only influence and work no mischief, when we recognize the mysterious subtlety which lies at the root of things, and which cannot be moulded. Who makes mars; who grasps, loses. “And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen were restive. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah: and God smote him there for his rashness; and there he died by the ark of God.” (II Sam. vi, 6, 7.)
[^1] The Sage leaves everything to work out its own destiny “Even should a Master—a Jivanmukta, one who has attained union, while still in the body, with that Higher Self—cast the mantle of his power round the disciple, should be wrap him in his aura, even then, it would be of no profit, if the disciple is not ready to burst the veils of his Soul with self-effort.
”If the nature of the disciple does not respond of its own will, and grow of its own energy, the artificial exaltation would be not only unprofitable but even injurious. For the instant the protecting wall were removed, the reaction would sweep the unprepared neophyte off his feet… And that is why it is so difficult for a Master to interfere with the natural growth of the disciple… Nature must work on in her own way, and growth must proceed from within without and never from without within.”—The World-Mystery, by G. R. S. Mead, B.A., M.R.A.S., pp. 146, 147.
Ursula K. Le Guin
Those who think to win the world by doing something to it, I see them come to grief. For the world is a sacred object. Nothing is to be done to it. To do anything to it is to damage it. To seize it is to lose it.
Under heaven some things lead, some follow, some blow hot, some cold, some are strong, some weak, some are fulfilled, some fail.
So the wise soul keeps away from the extremes, excess, extravagance.
Note UKLG: For Lao Tzu, “moderation in all things” isn’t just a bit of safe, practical advice. To lose the sense of the sacredness of the world is a mortal loss. To injure our world by excesses of greed and ingenuity is to endanger our own sacredness.