Chapter 29
One who assists a ruler through the Way does not use military force to dominate the world.
Such actions tend to return upon themselves.
Where armies have encamped, thorns and brambles grow.
After great armies pass, years of famine surely follow.
The skillful one achieves the result, nothing more - not daring to use it to seize dominance.
Achieve the result but do not boast of it; achieve the result but do not glorify it; achieve the result but do not become arrogant from it.
Achieve the result only when there is no alternative; achieve the result but do not force it.
When things reach their peak of strength, they grow old; this is called departing from the Way. What departs from the Way comes to an early end.