Chapter 64 · A Single Step Begins the Journey

Tao Te Ching (Legge, 1891) · chapter title added by Learn the Dao

Learn the Dao: a quiet practice for learning the thing that can’t be known.

The chapter’s first line

That which is at rest is easily kept hold of;

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This chapter in plain modern English — David Kooi’s rendering ↓

That which is at rest is easily kept hold of; before a thing has given indications of its presence, it is easy to take measures against it; that which is brittle is easily broken; that which is very small is easily dispersed. Action should be taken before a thing has made its appearance; order should be secured before disorder has begun. The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout; the tower of nine storeys rose from a (small) heap of earth; the journey of a thousand li commenced with a single step. He who acts (with an ulterior purpose) does harm; he who takes hold of a thing (in the same way) loses his hold. The sage does not act (so), and therefore does no harm; he does not lay hold (so), and therefore does not lose his hold. (But) people in their conduct of affairs are constantly ruining them when they are on the eve of success. If they were careful at the end, as (they should be) at the beginning, they would not so ruin them. Therefore the sage desires what (other men) do not desire, and does not prize things difficult to get; he learns what (other men) do not learn, and turns back to what the multitude of men have passed by. Thus he helps the natural development of all things, and does not dare to act (with an ulterior purpose of his own).

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Chapter 64, in a second rendering

A Thousand-Mile Trip Starts Under Your Feet

Dao De Kooi — an original rendering by David Kooi

What's still is easy to hold. What hasn't shown up yet is easy to plan for. What's brittle snaps clean. What's tiny scatters easy. Deal with it before it's a thing. Get it in order before it's a mess. A tree you can barely get your arms around started as a sprout. A tower nine floors up started as a pile of dirt. A thousand-mile trip starts under your feet. Force it and you wreck it. Clutch it and you lose it. The steady hand doesn't force, so doesn't wreck; doesn't clutch, so doesn't lose. People mostly blow it right near the finish - so stay as careful at the end as you were at the start, and you won't blow it. So: want not-wanting. Learn un-learning. Help things be what they already are, and keep your hands off.

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