“Know contentment and avoid disgrace; know when to stop and avoid danger; thus you may endure.” The sentence appears in chapter 44 of the Laozi. The chapter first asks which is dearer, reputation or life; which matters more, life or possessions; and which does greater harm, gain or loss. It then warns that excessive attachment carries a great cost and excessive accumulation brings heavy loss.
To “know contentment” is to recognise sufficiency while desire can still be governed. To “know when to stop” is to halt before pursuit turns against life itself. This is not a blanket rejection of ambition. It asks us to compare status and gain with the burden they place on the person pursuing them. In a culture of endless optimisation, the difficult judgement is often not whether one can add more, but when the small extra return no longer justifies the added risk.
https://jw.swjtu.edu.cn/info/1009/1048.htm
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