第六十四章  慎始敬终

其安易持，其未兆易谋，其脆易泮，其微易散。为之于未有，治之于未乱。合抱之木，生于毫末；九层之台，起于累土；千里之行，始于足下。 为者败之，执者失之。

是以圣人无为故无败，无执故无失。
民之从事，常于几成而败之。慎终如始，则无败事。
以圣人欲不欲，不贵难得之货；学不学，复众人之所过；以辅万物之自然而不敢为。

Careful Beginning Combne with CautiousEnding

What remains still is easy to hold. What is not yet manifest iseasy to plan for. What is brittle is easy to crack. What is minute is easy toscatter.

Handle things before they appear. Organize things before thereis confusion.

A tree with a full span's girth begins from a tiny sprout; Anine-storied terrace begins with a clod of earth. A journey of a thousand libeings at one's feet.

He who forces things to their willfails. He who grasps things loses them. The Enlightened Individuals do nothingagainst nature,

hencethey spoil nothing,

theyseize nothing,

hencethey lose nothing.

In handling things people usually fail when they are about tosucceed. Be as careful at the end as at the beginning, and there will be nofailure.

ThusEnlightened Individuals desire to be disireless

They does not value rare treasures.

They learn bythe universal intelligence,

not blinded byhuman greediness,

thus they willbe free from the common faults;

In this waythey assist all things naturally,

withoutventuring to act against the antural laws.

。

 [译文]

事情处于稳定时容易把握，事态尚无征兆时易于谋划；事物脆弱阶段易于化解，细微时易于消散。要在事态没有形成气候时就处理好，没有形成乱象前控制它。合抱粗的大树由嫩芽长成；九层的高台筑成于一筐筐泥土；千里的远行从脚下开始的。有私妄为，就容易招致失败，把持不放容易失去。因此圣人不因私欲而作为，也就不会失败；无所执着，也就不会落空。有些人做事，经常在即将成功之际而败，若能谨慎如初，就不会有失败的结果。