1. the government that seems the most unwise,

oft goodness to the people best supplies;

that which is meddling, touching everything,

will work but ill, and disappointment bring. misery!--happiness is to be found by its side! happiness!--misery lurks beneath it! who knows what either will come to in the end?

2. shall we then dispense with correction? the (method of) correction shall by a turn become distortion, and the good in it shall by a turn become evil. the delusion of the people (on this point) has indeed subsisted for a long time.

3. therefore the sage is (like) a square which cuts no one (with its angles); (like) a corner which injures no one (with its sharpness). he is straightforward, but allows himself no license; he is bright, but does not dazzle.

其政闷闷，其民淳淳；

其政察察，其民缺缺。

祸兮，福之所倚；

福兮，祸之所伏。

孰知其极？其无正也。

正复为奇，善复为妖。

人之迷，其日固久。

是以圣人方而不割，廉而不刿，直而不肆，光而不耀。

【译文】

为政随和散漫，人民反而喜乐淳和；为政勤紧利索，人民反而怨愤飘零。灾祸呵，福祥的亲密伴侣；福祥呵，灾祸的藏身之地。谁知道它们迁延嬗变的准则呢？那是没有一个定准的。合格正常会变得出格反常，良善祥和会变得妖异险恶。人们对这迁延不居的动荡感到无所适从，由来已久。因此，圣人方正而不孤立，突棱而不伤人，率直而不放肆，光明而不耀眼。