Chapter 29
将欲取天下而为之
将欲取天下而为之，
吾见其不得已。
天下神器，
不可为也，
不可执也。
为者败之，
执者失之。
故物或行或随，
或嘘或吹，
或强或羸，
或载或隳，
是以圣人去甚，
去奢，去泰。
a> The wish to grasp the world and control it – I see its futility. The world is a spiritlike vessel; it cannot be controlled. One who would control it would ruin it; one who would grasp it would lose it.
b> Thus things may lead or follow, blow hot or cold, be strong or weak, sustain or destroy.
Therefore the sage discards the excessive, the extravagant, the overbearing.
A modern classroom translation, with labeled subsections for study.
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