← The Dao De Jing
Chapter 9
Holding a Full Cup
持而盈之
The Text
持而盈之，不如其已；揣而锐之，不可长保。金玉满堂，莫之能守；富贵而骄，自遗其咎。功遂身退，天之道也。
A cup filled to the brim will spill; better to stop pouring. A blade honed to its sharpest cannot keep its edge. A hall crammed with gold and jade cannot be defended. Rich, honoured, and boastful — that is how you invite your own fall. When the work is done, withdraw. That is the way of heaven.
Reading it
Four images, one instruction: stop at the point of completion, not at the point of display. Withdrawal here is not cowardice; it is what makes the finished thing stay finished.
四个意象，一个指令：停在完成处，不要停在展示处。功成身退不是怯，是让做完的事保持做完的唯一办法。
Practice for the week
Take a piece of work to ninety percent and hand it over. Watch whether the last ten percent was ever needed.
把一件工作做到九成便交出去。看看最后那一成是否从来不需要。