What lies still is easy to grasp
What lies far off is easy to anticipate
What is brittle is easy to shatter
What is small is easy to disperse
Yet a tree broader than what a man can embrace
Comes from a tiny seed
A dam greater than a river can overcome
Starts with a clump of earth
A journey of a thousand miles
Begins with a single step
Therefore deal with things before they happen
Create order before there is confusion
He who acts with motive, spoils
He who grasps, loses
People often fail on the verge of success
Take care at the end as at the beginning
So that you may avoid failure
The sage desires the undesired
Values the undervalued
Studies what others neglect
Restores to the world what multitudes have passed by
His object is to restore everything to its natural course
But does so without motive
For that would be unnatural
Tao Wisdom