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Victor H. Mair

9

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Instead of keeping a bow taut while holding it straight, better to relax. You may temper a sword until it is razor sharp, but you cannot preserve the edge for long. When gold and jade fill your rooms, no one will be able to guard them for you. If wealth and honor make you haughty, you bequeath misfortune upon yourself. To withdraw when your work is finished, that is the Way of heaven.

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