Chapter 64 Dyer
What is at rest is easily managed.
What is not yet manifest is easy to prevent.
The brittle is easily shattered.
The small is easily scattered.
Act before things exist.
Manage them before there is disorder.
Remember a tree that fills a man's embrace grows from a seedling.
A tower nine stories high starts with one brick.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Act and destroy it.
Grasp it and lose it.
The sage does not act and so is not defeated.
He does not grasp and therefore does not lose.
People usually fail when they are on the verge of success.
So give as much care at the end as at the beginning.
Then there will be no failure.
The sage does not treasure what is difficult to attain.
He does not collect precious things.
He learns not to hold on to ideas.
He helps the ten thousand things find their own nature but does not venture to lead them by the nose.
Chapter 64 Henricks
1. What is at rest is easy to hold;
2. What has not yet given a sign is easy to plan for;
3. The brittle is easily shattered;
4. The minute is easily scattered;
5. Act on it before it comes into being;
6. Order it before it turns into chaos.
7. A tree [so big] that it takes both arms to surround starts out as the tiniest shoot;
8. A nine-story terrace rises up from a basket of dirt.
9. A high place one hundred, one thousand feet high begins from under your feet.
10. Those who act on it ruin it;
11. Those who hold on to it lose it.
12. Therefore the Sage does not act,
13. And as a result, he doesn't ruin [things];
14. He does not hold on to [things],
15. And as a result, he doesn't lose [things];
16. In people's handling of affairs, they always ruin things when they're right at the point of completion.
17. Therefore we say, "If you're as careful at the end as you were at the beginning, you'll have no failures."
18. Therefore the Sage desires not to desire and doesn't value goods that are hard to obtain;
19. He learns not to learn and returns to what the masses pass by;
20. He could help all things to be natural, yet he dare not do it.
Chapter 64 Lau
It is easy to maintain a situation while it is still secure;
It is easy to deal with a situation before symptoms develop;
It is easy to break a thing when it is yet brittle;
It is easy to dissolve a thing when it is yet minute.
Deal with a thing while it is still nothing;
Keep a thing in order before disorder sets in.
A tree that can fill the span of a man's arms
Grows from a downy tip;
A terrace nine storeys high
Rises from hodfuls of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles
Starts from beneath one's feet.
Whoever does anything to it will ruin it;
Whoever lays hold of it will lose it.
Therefore the sage, because he does nothing, never ruins anything;
And, because he does not lay hold of anything, loses nothing.
In their enterprises the people
Always ruin them when on the verge of success.
Be as careful at the end as at the beginning
And there will be no ruined enterprises.
Therefore the sage desires not to desire
And does not value goods which are hard to come by;
Learns to be without learning
And makes good the mistakes of the multitude
In order to help the myriad creatures to be natural and to refrain from daring to act.
Chapter 64 Wu
What is at rest is easy to hold.
What manifests no omens is easily forestalled.
What is fragile is easily shattered.
What is small is easily scattered.
Tackle things before they have appeared.
Cultivate peace and order before confusion and disorder have set in.
A tree as big as a man's embrace springs from a tiny sprout.
A tower nine stories high begins with a heap of earth.
A journey of a thousand leagues starts from where your feet stand.
He who fusses over anything spoils it.
He who grasps anything loses it.
The Sage fusses over nothing and therefore spoils nothing.
He grips at nothing and therefore loses nothing.
In handling affairs, people often spoil them just at the point of success.
With heedfulness in the beginning and patience at the end, nothing will be spoiled.
Therefore, the Sage desires to be desireless,
Sets no value on rare goods,
Learns to unlearn his learning,
And induces the masses to return from where they have overpassed.
He only helps all creatures to find their own nature,
But does not venture to lead them by the nose.