' Tao Te Ching '...

Do you think you can take over the universe and
improve it? I do not believe it can be done.

The universe is sacred. You cannot improve it.
If you try to change it, you will ruin it.
If you try to hold it, you will lose it.

So sometimes things are ahead and sometimes
they are behind;
Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes
easily;

Sometimes there is strength and sometimes weak-
ness;
Sometimes one is up and sometimes down.

Therefore the sage avoids extremes, excesses, and
complacency.


- Lao-tzu

Tao Te Ching
Translation by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English
Vintage Books Edition, September 1972