無wú為wéi不bù爭zhēng，而ér天tiān下xià莫mò能néng與yǔ

What does 無為不爭，而天下莫能與 (wú wéi bù zhēng ér tiān xià mò néng yǔ) mean?

無為不爭，而天下莫能與 (wú wéi bù zhēng ér tiān xià mò néng yǔ) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "non-doing non-contending, and none under heaven can rival." In use it means: By not contending, one cannot be overcome; the power of non-competition. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Water note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Rat.

Literally: "non-doing non-contending, and none under heaven can rival."

The reading

Water, which contends with nothing and refuses no low place, wears down the stone that force cannot move. The person who does not scramble for position finds that positions come to them, because they are the only one who is not competing for everything and can therefore be trusted with it. Non-striving is not passivity but a different kind of power entirely.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeshīcí 詩詞
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element水 Water
• Zodiac tie鼠 Year of the Rat

Source Tao Te Ching 道德經·第六十六章 (Chapter 66)

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in The Way of Water, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Rat, Year of the Ox, and Year of the Tiger.