46. Contentment and Order
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
天下有道，却走马以粪。
English translation
When the world follows the Way, warhorses are sent back to haul manure for the fields.
In a well-ordered society, resources are no longer consumed by war but returned to farming and daily life. The new work of the horses makes peace tangible.
Original Chinese text
天下无道，戎马生于郊。
English translation
When the world has lost the Way, warhorses give birth on the outskirts.
If military horses are breeding near the battlefield, warfare has become prolonged and has entered ordinary life. Both the land and the people bear the cost of disorder.
Original Chinese text
祸莫大于不知足；咎莫大于欲得。
English translation
No disaster is greater than not knowing what is enough; no fault is greater than the craving to possess.
When desire has no limit, even abundance cannot bring stability and instead drives further competition. Trouble often comes not from scarcity but from refusing to stop taking.
Original Chinese text
故知足之足，常足矣。
English translation
Therefore, whoever finds sufficiency in knowing what is enough will always have enough.
Contentment does not deny real needs; it recognizes their limits. Once satisfaction no longer depends entirely on acquiring more, it becomes steadier.