Line by Line - Verse 30, Line 6

A skillful (commander) strikes a decisive blow, and stops.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Just do what needs to be done.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

A good commander achieves result, then stops
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

The Masters do what needs doing
and that's all they do.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

In my mind -- yes, I am a socialist -- war is a lot like capitalism. The drive always is for more. The capitalist desires greater short-term profits. The general desires greater short-term destruction. Both want to rub out the competition at all costs.

Yet, by looking solely at the desired short-term objectives, often times the long-term outcome is polluted. When what we want is more than is sufficient, we end up robbing the present and future from someone else.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.