Following Destiny順命篇
1Death and Life Rest in Destiny
子夏曰：「死生有命，富貴在天。」
Zixia said, "Death and life rest in destiny; wealth and honor rest with heaven."
2Going and Stopping Are Not in Human Power
孟子曰：「行或使之，止或尼之，行止非人所能也。」
Mencius said, "When one goes, something sets him going; when one stops, something holds him back. Going and stopping are not what a person is able to do."
3Even a Sip Is Settled Beforehand
一飲一啄，事皆前定。
A sip of water, a mouthful of rice — every matter is settled beforehand.
4This Floating Life Bustles for Nothing
萬事分已定，浮生空自忙。
In all things one's lot is already settled, and this floating life bustles about for nothing.
5Destiny Orders a Lifetime
萬事不由人計較，一生都是命安排。
All things do not turn out as a person reckons them; a whole lifetime is ordered by destiny.
6Where Strength Cannot Reach Is Destiny
《景行錄》雲：「凡不可著力處，便是命也。」
The Jingxing lu says, "Wherever strength cannot be brought to bear — that is destiny."
7Skill Is Less Than Blessing
會不如命，智不如福。
Being skillful is less than having destiny; being wise is less than having blessing.
8Calamity Cannot Be Escaped
《景行錄》雲：「禍不可以免，福不可再求。」
The Jingxing lu says, "Calamity cannot be escaped by trying to escape it, and blessing cannot be sought a second time."
9Do Not Take It Meanly
《素書》雲：「見嫌而不苟免，見利而不苟得。」重刊本中此處還有一句：福至不可苟求，禍至不可苟免。
The Su shu says, "Though you meet with dislike, do not meanly try to escape it; though you see gain, do not meanly try to take it." In the reprinted edition there is one more line here: "Though blessing comes, do not meanly seek it; though calamity comes, do not meanly try to escape it."
10Before Wealth, Do Not Be Mean
《曲禮》曰：「臨財毋苟得，臨難毋苟。」
The Quli says, "Before wealth, do not meanly try to take it; before hardship, do not meanly try to escape it."
Interlinear notes 1
The base text ends at 臨難毋苟, lacking the graph for "escape"; the reading follows the current text 毋苟免. — translator
11One Who Knows Destiny
子曰：「知命之人，見利不動，臨死不怨。」
Confucius said, "One who knows destiny is not moved at the sight of gain, and bears no resentment in the face of death."
12Gain a Day and Live That Day
得一日過一日，得一時過一時。
Gain a day and live out that day; gain an hour and live out that hour.
13The Road Is Only So Long
緊行慢行，前程只有許多路。
Walk fast or walk slow, the road ahead holds only so much road.
14When the Time Comes, When Fortune Goes
時來風送滕王閣，運去雷轟薦福碑。
The time came, and the wind carried him to the Pavilion of Prince Teng. Fortune went, and the thunder shattered the Jianfu stele.
15It Rests on Destiny, Not on Man
《列子》曰：「癡聾瘖癧家豪富，智慧聰明卻受貧。年月日時該載定，算來由命不由人。」
The Liezi says, "The dull, the deaf, and the mute may have households of great wealth, while the wise and clear-sighted receive poverty instead. The year, the month, the day, and the hour are all set down and settled. Reckon it out, and it rests on destiny, not on man."
16Do Not Force What Is Not in Your Destiny
命裡有終須有，命裡無莫強求。
What is in your destiny you will have in the end; what is not in your destiny, do not force yourself to seek.
17Live Calmly
先儒曰：「世味非不濃艷，可以淡然處之。若富貴貧窮由我力取，則造物無權矣。」
An earlier scholar said, "It is not that the flavors of the world are without richness and beauty, yet one may live among them calmly. If wealth and honor, poverty and want were taken by my own strength, then what power would the maker of things have left?"