第五十七章  無欲而興

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；人多利器，國家滋昏；人多伎巧，奇物滋起；法令滋彰，盜賊多有。 故圣人云：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。

Prospering in Simplisity

Rule a kingdom by the by justice from the universal intelligence,

Fight a battle by (abnormal) tactics of surprise. Win the worldby following the natural laws. How do I know that this should be so? Throughthis:

Howdo I know this? Through the following observation:

The more restrictions there are, the poorer the people. The moresharp weapons, the more trouble in the state.

The more clever and crafty the men, The oftener strange things happen.The more articulate the laws and ordinances, The more robbers and thievesarise.

Therefore the wise say, "Do not interfere, and peopletransform themselves. Love peace, and people do what is right.

Do not intervene, and people prosper. Have no desires, andpeople live simply."

[譯文]

以清凈之宇宙正道來治理天下，以奇詭的方法用兵征戰(zhàn)，以不擾民達到吉祥昌盛。怎么會知道此理呢？根據就在我們眼見的事實。 天下禁忌避諱越多，百姓越深陷貧困；利器越多，國家越陷于混亂。智巧越多，奇物勢必惑亂民心；法令越嚴苛，各種偷盜越猖獗。