第三十章  物壯則老

以道佐人主者，不以兵強(qiáng)天下，其事好還。師之所處，荊棘生焉。大軍之后，必有兇年。善有果而已，不敢以取強(qiáng)。果而勿矜，果而勿伐，果而勿驕，果而不得已，果而勿強(qiáng)。物壯則老，是謂不道，不道早已。

Extremes fall apart

Whoever advises aleader according to the Tao opposes conquest by force of arms. The use of forcetends to rebound.

Where armies march,thorns and brambles grow. After a great war, scarcity and famine follow.

Those wha are skillful of governing

Succed and then stop.

They dare not hold on with force.

A good general achieveshis purpose and stops, He dares not rely upon the strength of arms to take furtheradvantage of a victory.

They achieve theirpurposes, but do not glory in them. They achieve their purposes, but do notcelebrate them. They achieve their purposes, but do not take pride in them.They achieve their purpose but only as an unavoidable measure. He achieves hispurpose but does not aim to dominate.

Things reach theirprime and then decline, which means being contrary to the flourishing of Tao.  Whatever is not fitted to the pattern of Tao will soon end.

 [譯文]

用道來輔佐君王的人，不用兵器強(qiáng)行于天下。這樣才可以獲得善報(bào)，回歸天道。戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的經(jīng)驗(yàn)告訴我們，軍隊(duì)駐扎過的地方，田地里必然會(huì)荊棘叢生，大戰(zhàn)之后，必有荒年。悟道而善用兵者，迫不得已而用兵且適可而止，絕不因?yàn)楸?qiáng)大而耀武揚(yáng)威。達(dá)到用兵目的而不自大，不夸耀，不驕傲，戰(zhàn)勝出于不得已而為之，有功成而不逞強(qiáng)。

一味地追求強(qiáng)盛之極限，是不符合道的，不符合道就會(huì)過早衰亡。