Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval
and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back
the only path to serenity.
~ Lao Tzu from the Tao Te Ching, Chapter 9
Translated by Stephen Mitchell in 1988
*It fascinates me that translators find similar but significantly different interpretations of these lines; the version above is my favorite but here is another, translated by Yang Xiaolin from 1995:
To be overflowing is not as good as having just enough.
If a point is made too sharp, the sharpness will not last long.
A houseful of treasure is impossible to keep.
The rich and arrogant are destined for disaster.
When you are successful and famous, quickly back out, which is the heavens’ way.