老子 合抱之木生於毫末；九層之臺起於累土； 千里之行始於足下。For each towering giant of a tree, A tiny bud it used to be. For a terrace nine-storey high, It came from baskets of soil piled.

老子 《道德經》


第六十四章  (其安易持) 

其安易持，其未兆易謀，其脆易判。
其微易散。為之於未有，治之於未亂。
合抱之木生於毫末；九層之臺起於累土；
千里之行始於足下。
為者敗之，執者失之。是以聖人無為故無敗，無執故無失。
民之從事，常於幾成而敗之。慎終如始，則無敗事。
是以聖人慾不欲，不貴難得之貨；學不學，復眾人之所過；以輔萬物之自然，而不敢為。


DAO DE JING: "The Way and Virtues Classic" 
Chapter 64  (When things are in a stable condition)
-- by LAO ZI (circa 600 BC - 500 BC ?)
-- Translated by Frank C Yue 

When Things are in a stable condition they're easy to keep;
Before they've developed fully, they can be dealt with easily.
They can be separated with ease when they're still quite weak;
For very small Things, they may be lost inadvertently.
Deal with it first -- before a situation arises;
Take preventive actions before a revolt brings surprises.
For each towering giant of a tree,
A tiny bud it used to be.
For a terrace nine-storey high,
It came from baskets of soil piled.
For a journey of a thousand mile,
It starts with your first step all the while.
Only when something someone does,
It can then cause one failure, thus.
When something someone gains,
She may lose it again.
Hence, the Sage does nothing,
And there's nothing to fail.
Himself to things he ne'er avails;
So he ne'er loses anything.
For the common People, they fail mostly
When their tasks they have completed nearly.
Now, if they could be careful till the end,
As they were when the job they first began --
Then, failure will be in vain.
Hence, the Sage thinks about People's "non-think";
He treasures not a single luxury, rare thing.
The Sage learns those things People loathe to learn;
The right to right People's wrongs he will earn --
To aid All Things to develop naturally,
And not to try to intervene quite needlessly.


Note:
The Way -- "Dao": The Way of Nature.