Line by Line - Verse 29, Line 8

What warmed anon we freezing find.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes easily;
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Either blow hot or cold
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Sometimes you push yourself,
other times you rest.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Here is what Wu Ch'eng (as quoted by Red Pine) has to say this line as well as the previous three.

How does someone who gains control of the world keep the world from harm? The sage understands that things necessarily move between opposites but that there is a way to adjust this movement. Things that prosper too much must wither and die. By keeping things from prospering too much, he keeps them from withering and dying.

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