Tao Te Ching, 9

To hold and fill a cup to overflowing Is not as good as to stop in time.

Sharpen a sword edge to its very sharpest, And the (edge) will not last long.

When gold and jade fill your hall, You will not be able to keep them.

To be proud with honour and wealth Is to cause one's own downfall.

withdraw as soon as your work is done. Such is Heaven's Way.

(Tao Te Ching, 9)

Today, I would try to interpret the above text which is translated by Wing-Tsit Chan.

In the text, it can be understood that everything that is too much will not do good to a person. These excess things will only worsen their situations. If one aims to overflow things, he will not learn to stop things and instead, will be greedy. When one sharpens his sword more, it will turn out to be easily broken, thus it won't last long. When one has gold and jade, he will be subject to robbery, thus he will not be able to keep them.

One must know when to stop. he must not be filled by desires of having more. These "more" will be the reason that will bring him down. Because of the want to have more, he will be pushed to do things that is out of his reach, actions that would let him extend his natural capacity. Since these actions are extensions of his capacities, these violates his natural self. When one extends, it is not part of his natural self anymore, thus it would mean that the person wold not be able to hold it for long as one will always go back to his natural self, his known self.

 Wanting too much would really not do good to a person as he will always go back to his natural capacity, his natural self.