The Pain of Excess
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跂者不立，跨者不行。自見者不明，自是者不彰，自伐者無功，自矜者不長。其於道也曰餘食贅行。物或惡之，故有道者不處也。
One who stands on tiptoe cannot stand firm; one who takes long strides cannot walk far. One who displays himself does not see clearly; one who thinks himself right does not stand out; one who boasts of himself has no merit; one who exalts himself does not last long. In the Way, this is called leftover food and greedy conduct. Creatures may hate it, so one who has the Way does not dwell in it.
Chapter 24. Heshang Gong titles it 苦恩, "The Pain of Excess."
The tiptoe and the long stride are the body’s version of self-display, and they fail the same way: each undercuts the very thing it is trying to prove, and what is left is something no one wants around.
Heshang Gong glosses 贅 as “greedy” (贅貪也). He reads the final line politically: a person like this should not stay in office (言有道之人不居其國也).
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