Gravity is the source of lightness,

Calm, the master of haste.

A lone traveller will journey all day, watching over his belongings;

Yet once safe in his bed he will lose them in sleep.

The captain of a great vessel will not act lightly or hastily.

Acting lightly, he loses sight of the world,

Acting hastily, he loses control of himself.

A captain can not treat his great ship as a small boat;

Rather than glitter like jade

He must stand like stone.

27. Perfection

The perfect traveller leaves no trail to be followed;

The perfect speaker leaves no question to be answered;

The perfect accountant leaves no working to be completed;

The perfect container leaves no lock to be closed;

The perfect knot leaves no end to be ravelled. So the sage nurtures all men

And abandons no one.

He accepts everything

And rejects nothing.

He attends to the smallest details.

So the strong must guide the weak,

For the weak are raw material to the strong.

If the guide is not respected,

Or the material is not cared for,

Confusion will result, no matter how clever one is.

This is the secret of perfection:

When raw wood is carved, it becomes a tool;

When a man is employed, he becomes a tool;

The perfect carpenter leaves no wood to be carved.

28. Becoming

Using the male, being female,

Being the entrance of the world,

You embrace harmony

And become as a newborn.

Using strength, being weak,

Being the root of the world,

You complete harmony

And become as unshaped wood.

Using the light, being dark,

Being the world,

You perfect harmony

And return to the Way.

29. Ambition

Those who wish to change the world

According with their desire

Cannot succeed.

The world is shaped by the Way;

It cannot be shaped by the self.

Trying to change it, you damage it;

Trying to possess it, you lose it. So some will lead, while others follow.

Some will be warm, others cold

Some will be strong, others weak.

Some will get where they are going

While others fall by the side of the road.

So the sage will be neither wasteful nor violent.

30. Violence

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.