57

Use straightforwardness to govern a state;

misdirection is for conducting battles.

Better yet, be empty of all such affairs and win the world!

How do I know this is indeed so?

By noticing this:

the more restrictive the taboos, the poorer the people;

the finer the weapons, the more troubled the state;

the more ingenious the technology, the more bizarre things are made;

the more issues become legal matters, the more people become criminals.

So, the sage says,

I take no action, and the people transform themselves;

I enjoy quietude, and the people correct themselves;

I create no agendas, and the people prosper by themselves;

I am free of attachments, and the people simplify their own lives.

Note: The way of the world is to add legislation to legislation, adjustment to adjustment, correction to correction, and complication to complication. Not trusting the world, one tries too hard to manage it, but the way of the Dao is to be empty of artifice and manipulations. The leader who abides in spiritual connection to the Dao affects the whole realm by his connection, as described in the last four lines.