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.