Line by Line - Verse 64, Line 8

the tower of nine stories rose from a (small) heap of earth;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth;
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

A tower of nine levels
Starts from the dirt heap
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Every skyscraper started out with a shovelful of dirt.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Anything we build, develop or create, starts at the point of inspiration. Without a motivational spark, nothing would ever get done. You can't build a sound tower or a terrace without a plan and plans only come together from the spark of inspiration and the creativity to turn that inspiration into reality.

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