When the work is done, and one's name is becoming distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.

Excerpt

It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to carry it when it is full. If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness. When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them safe. When wealth and honours lead to arrogancy, this brings its evil on itself. When the work is done, and one's name is becoming distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.

Source Tao Te King, chapter 9 · 📖 Read the full passage

✨ To meditate on today

According to Lao-tzu, wanting to fill everything and keep everything leads to anxiety; the way of Heaven is to do one’s work, then step back without clinging to honours. Today, when you have finished a task or done someone a service, let it go: seek neither to keep the credit nor to talk about it, and move on in peace to what comes next.

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