Line by Line - Verse 63, Line 2

to conduct affairs without (feeling the) trouble of them;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Work without doing.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Manage without meddling
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Don't work so hard.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

The message here is much the same as the previous line. When we must think through each step in a robotic fashion, we lack grace in performing the operation. When those steps become second nature, we no longer feel compelled to check them off one by one. We easily flow from one step to the next without being conscious of where one step ends and the next one begins.

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