“Standing on tiptoe does not make one steady; overstriding does not carry one far” appears in chapter 24 of the received Dao De Jing. The bodily images are followed by a criticism of self-display: one who insists on being seen is not clear, one who insists on being right is not distinguished, and self-praise does not endure. Some transmitted versions use 跂 rather than 企, but the sense remains close. The line does not make ambition identical with recklessness; it asks whether an enlarged gesture has begun to damage the very capacity to continue.
https://ctext.org/text.pl?if=en&node=11615
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