Line by Line - Verse 29, Lines 1-2

If any one should wish to get the kingdom for himself, and to effect this by what he does, I see that he will not succeed.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it?
I do not believe it can be done.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Those who wish to take the world and control it
I see that they cannot succeed
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Want to take over the world?
Think again.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Without question, this is my favorite verse of the TTC! I used to use the first 4 lines as my footer for my email account.

I view these lines as not suggesting that we can't improve on human knowledge or society; for me it means that we can't improve on nor alter the laws of nature. We can't cheat death. We can't control the weather. We can't negate the essential yin and yang of the cycles of life. We can never know the answers to some of our most fundamental questions.

When we arrogantly attempt to change such things, we are bound to fail. Even worse, our actions set off a chain reaction that almost always includes a host of unintended consequences that negatively impact ourselves and others.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.