Be direct when managing a nation!
Be unusual when ordering an an army!
Do not seek to take the world!
How do I know this?
Because it's right here
When the world is full of taboos
The people are beset by poverty
When the people gather blades
The nation's place grows late
Man begins to be crafty
Wonderful things are erected
Law and order is excessively shown
Bandits and thieves get more and more
So the Sage speaks:
I play no part
And the people transform of their own accord
I value stillness
And the people follow their own orthodoxy
I do not interfere
And the people are wealthy as they are
I do not desire
And the people return to simplicity
以正治國
以奇用兵
以無事取天下
吾何以知其然哉
以此
天下多忌諱
而民彌貧
民多利器
國家滋昏
人多伎巧
奇物滋起
法令滋彰
盜賊多有
故聖人云
我無為
而民自化
我好靜
而民自正
我無事
而民自富
我無欲
而民自樸