Better to stop short than fill to the brim.
Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.
Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.
Claim wealth and titles, and disaster will follow.
Retire when the work is done.
This is the way of heaven.
Sit With This
Where in your life have you already achieved enough, but continue striving in a way that is creating unnecessary risk or exhaustion?
Related Verses
Western Commentary
Modern culture glorifies more — more wealth, more followers, more success, more ambition. This verse is a quiet warning: the very things we strive to accumulate beyond sufficiency become the source of anxiety, conflict, and eventual loss. The sage knows when enough is enough. Stopping at the right moment is not weakness — it is wisdom, and it is, Lao Tzu says, the way heaven itself operates.