Tao Te Ching 64 (Third Part)

Tao Te Ching 64 (Third Part)

Rushing into action, you fail.

Trying to grasp things, you lose them.

Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe.

Today I will interpret the Tao Te Ching 64 (Third Part). Rushing into action, you fail. It is true that when you rush you fail. For example, in a war, when you are rushing to defeat the enemy, you are likely to fail or to be defeated because you don’t plan it well and when you don’t plan things well, your anticipation is limited and you might underestimate your enemy, but when you don’t rush into action and plan what you will do, you are more likely to win the war and it will lead you to victory. Trying to grasp things, you lose them. It is true that when you grasp things you lose them, because you did not let it done on its way. Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe. I will give the caterpillar that almost becoming a butterfly as an example. When you try or help to open the caterpillar that is almost to become a butterfly, you actually did not help it but you actually ruin it because it did not develop well or on its own and it is not ready to become a butterfly, so what you’ve done is you ruin what was almost ripe.