When kings build too many palaces,
They will invite their neighbours to join them in the feast.
Without this well-established provision,
It would be better for everyone to go their own way
Wherever there is abundant water,
Wherever there is clean earth,
The mind can focus on one's own heart,
Wherever there is a well-founded environment,
A sound voice can be heard.
But look and never move;
If you want to go somewhere else,
Go ahead and master it.
other readings further drafts from the same generation
deeper strata where the meaning thins
the original
1. Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere. Those
who are skilled (in the Tao) do not dispute (about it); the
disputatious are not skilled in it. Those who know (the Tao) are not
extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it.
2. The sage does not accumulate (for himself). The more that he
expends for others, the more does he possess of his own; the more that
he gives to others, the more does he have himself.
3. With all the sharpness of the Way of Heaven, it injures not; with
all the doing in the way of the sage he does not strive.