Line by Line - Verse 48, Lines 6-7

He who gets as his own all under heaven does so by giving himself no trouble (with that end). If one take trouble (with that end), he is not equal to getting as his own all under heaven.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

The world is ruled by letting things take their course.
It cannot be ruled by interfering.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Take the world by constantly applying non-interference
The one who interferes is not qualified to take the world
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Let events take their course,
and everything will turn out
in your favor.
If you act on your ambitions,
they will never pan out.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

I think another way to sum up these last two lines is say we often are our own worst enemies!! We allow desire and ambition to cloud our judgment. We take the most difficult routes to get to where we want to go when a clear path to the objective is there all along -- we simply don't recognize it as such.

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