Dao De Jing #29: Ambition

The Dao De Jing, The Way and It's Power, is not only one of the world's classics of literature, it is one of the foundational texts of philosophical Daoism. If you click here, you will be directed to an online version of this timeless work. Below is Chapter #29, on Ambition.

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.