It is ever so that man’s life
is certain to depend on his being content.
Through sorrow he loses his guiding thread;
through anger he loses the beginnings.
In sorrow and melancholy, joy and anger,
Tao can find no resting place.
Love and desires - quiet them!
Stupidity and confusion - rectify them!
Do not pull! Do not push!
Happiness will naturally be restored. 

That Tao will naturally come
Is something you can count on and plan for.
If you are quiescent, you will obtain it.
If you move hastily, you will lose it.
In the heart the subtle breath of life
The spiritual force within the mind,
sometimes arrives and sometimes departs.
So fine that nothing can exist within it;
So large that nothing can exist beyond it.
The reason we lose it is because haste is harmful.
When the mind is able to retain a state of quiescence,
Tao will become stable.
For the man who comprehends the Tao
The lines (of his face) effuse (a sense of harmony), and his hair exudes it.
Within his breast there is nothing corrupt.
Since he practices this method of moderating desires,
nothing ever causes him harm.

 
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