Line by Line - Verse 57, Line 3

(but) the kingdom is made one's own (only) by freedom from action and purpose.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Become master of the universe without striving.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Take the world with non-interference
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

But you can gain the entire world
by doing nothing at all.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

For me, the problem with striving has to do with force. When we try to force life to be as we like, we invariably encounter resistance and resistance causes us to expend a lot of needless energy.

It's like trying to swim against the current in a river. If we happen to be strong swimmers, we can get the job done, but, regardless of our strength or weakness, it's much more difficult to swim against the current than it is to swim WITH the current.

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