Line by Line - Verse 80, Lines 1-2

In a little state with a small population, I would so order it, that, though there were individuals with the abilities of ten or a hundred men, there should be no employment of them;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

A small country has fewer people.
Though there are machines that can work ten to a hundred times faster than man, they are not needed.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Small country, few people
Let them have many weapons but not use them
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Lao Tzu had a dream
about a small country
with very few people.
They didn't need machines
to get their work done faster.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

It is far easier to take proper care of things when they are small. For example think of the differences between undertaking a small and a large project. You can focus on each aspect of a small project, but you often only have time or the wherewithal to peruse many aspects of a large project. Small projects can be fine-tuned to get the results you want. Large projects typically fall short in one way or another due to time constraints or exhaustion.

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