进道若退

jìn dào ruò tuì

progress seems like regress (the Book of Dao 道德經|道德经[Dao4 de2 jing1], Chpt. 41)

jìn

to go forward

dào

road; path (CL:條|条[tiao2],股[gu3])

ruò

to seem

退

tuì

to retreat; to withdraw