Line by Line - Verse 30, Lines 18-19

When things have attained their strong maturity they become old. This may be said to be not in accordance with the Tao:
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Force is followed by loss of strength.
This is not the way of Tao.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Things become strong and then get old
This is called contrary to the Tao
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

The mighty will always lose their power and any connection they ever had to Tao.
They will not last long;
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Derek Lin puts a decidedly political spin on today's lines.

This observation from nature, that things grow strong and then age and perish, can be applied to the rise and fall of empires throughout history. Time and time again, ambitious nations become powerful, exert their will on other nations through force, and then decay from within.

Hey, President Obama and Congressional leaders, are you paying attention to this?

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