When people are born they are gentle and soft.
At death they are hard and stiff.
When plants are alive they are soft and delicate.
When they die, they wither and dry up.
Therefore the hard and still are followers of death.
The gentle and soft are the followers of life.
Thus, if you are aggressive and stiff, you won’t win.
When [...]
The reason people starve
Is because their rulers tax them excessively.
They are difficult to govern.
Because their rulers have their own ends in mind.
The reason people take death lightly
Is because they want life to be rich.
Therefore they take death lightly.
It is only by not living for your own ends
That you can go beyond valuing life.
If you are courageous in daring you will die.
If you are courageous in not-daring you will live.
Among these two, one is beneficial and the other is harmful.
Who understands the reason why Heaven dislikes what it dislikes?
Even the sage has difficulty in knowing this.
The Way of Heaven is to win easily without struggle.
To respond well without [...]
If the people don’t fear death
How will you scare them with death?
If you make the people continuously fear death
By seizing anybody who does something out of the ordinary
And killing them, Who will dare to move?
There is always an official executioner to handle this.
If you play the role of the official executioner
It is like cutting wood [...]
When the people do not fear your might
Then your might has truly become great.
Don’t interfere with their household affairs.
Don’t oppress their livelihood.
If you don’t oppress them they won’t feel oppressed.
Thus the sage understands herself.
But does not show herself.
Loves herself
But does not prize herself.
Therefore she lets go of that
And takes this.
There is nothing better than to know that you don’t know.
Not knowing, yet thinking you know–
This is sickness.
Only when you are sick of being sick
Can you be cured.
The sage’s not being sick.
Is because she is sick of sickness.
Therefore she is not sick.
