CHINESE ORIGINAL
以正治国，以奇用兵，以无事取天下。
吾何以知其然哉？
以此。
天下多忌讳，而民弥贫；民多利器，国家滋昬；人多伎巧，奇物滋起；法令滋彰，盗贼多有。
故圣人云：「我无为而民自化，我好静而民自正，我无事而民自富，我无欲而民自朴。
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ENGLISH · JAMES LEGGE, 1891
A state may be ruled by (measures of) correction; weapons of war may be used with crafty dexterity; (but) the kingdom is made one's own (only) by freedom from action and purpose.
How do I know that it is so? By these facts:--In the kingdom the multiplication of prohibitive enactments increases the poverty of the people; the more implements to add to their profit that the people have, the greater disorder is there in the state and clan; the more acts of crafty dexterity that men possess, the more do strange contrivances appear; the more display there is of legislation, the more thieves and robbers there are.
Therefore a sage has said, 'I will do nothing (of purpose), and the people will be transformed of themselves; I will be fond of keeping still, and the people will of themselves become correct. I will take no trouble about it, and the people will of themselves become rich; I will manifest no ambition, and the people will of themselves attain to the primitive simplicity.'
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Leadership
What happens when a leader makes room for others? Read about restraint, trust, and governing with a light hand.
Leadership