Tao Te Ching – Verse 74
If you realize that all things change,
there is nothing you will try to hold on to.
If you aren’t afraid of dying,
there is nothing you can’t achieve.
Trying to control the future
is like trying to take the master carpenter’s place.
When you handle the master carpenter’s tools,
chances are that you’ll cut your hand.
(translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995)
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People do not fear death
How can they be threatened with death?
If people are made to constantly fear death
Then those who act unlawfully
I can capture and kill them
Who would dare?
There exists a master executioner that kills
If we substitute for the master executioner to kill
It is like substituting for the great carpenter to cut
Those who substitute for the great carpenter to cut
It is rare that they do not hurt their own hands
(translation by Derek Lin, 2006)
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You ask for more teaching?
Do not kill.
There is a god who will take care of that.
(translation by Jeremy M. Miller, 2013)
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from I Ching Online
