Retire When the Work Is Done
Advises stepping back from success at its peak, since clinging to a finished achievement — through excess wealth, pride, or position — invites the very collapse it was meant to prevent.
Chapter 9 moves through a series of everyday over-reach images before landing on its central maxim. "Better to stop short than to fill to the brim," it begins, since a cup filled past capacity only spills. "Oversharpen a blade and the edge will not last long," it continues — the very act meant to perfect a tool degrades it past a certain point. A house stuffed with gold and jade "cannot be safeguarded," and pride in wealth or position "invites its own downfall." The chapter's conclusion is the line this entry borrows its title from: "when the work is done, withdraw — this is the Way of heaven." It is a teaching aimed less at failure than at success, warning that the moment of achievement is exactly when overreach becomes most tempting, and that timely withdrawal is what actually preserves what's been built.
When the work is done, withdraw — this is the Way of heaven.
Tao Te Ching