Letting Be
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勇於敢則殺，勇於不敢則活。此兩者，或利或害。天之所惡，孰知其故？是以聖人猶難之。天之道，不爭而善勝，不言而善應，不召而自來，繟然而善謀。天網恢恢，疏而不失。
Bold in daring, you are killed; bold in not daring, you live. Of these two, one brings benefit, one brings harm. What Heaven hates, who knows the reason? So even the sage finds it hard. Heaven’s Way does not contend, yet is good at winning; does not speak, yet is well answered; does not call, yet things come of themselves; is unhurried, yet is good at planning. Heaven’s net is vast and wide; its mesh is loose, yet nothing slips through.
On the two kinds of courage (reckless and restrained) and the line about Heaven’s net that is still a common saying today.
The chapter admits that no one, not even the sage, can fully explain why daring kills and restraint saves. What it offers instead is a picture of Heaven’s Way getting its results without effort. Its last line, 天網恢恢，疏而不失, is one of the best known in the book.
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