1The 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.
2Misery!--happiness is to be found by its side!
3Happiness!--misery lurks beneath it!
4Who knows what either will come to in the end?
5Shall we then dispense with correction?
6The (method of) correction shall by a turn become distortion, and the good in it shall by a turn become evil.
7The delusion of the people (on this point) has indeed subsisted for a long time.
8Therefore the sage is (like) a square which cuts no one (with its angles); (like) a corner which injures no one (with its sharpness).
9He is straightforward, but allows himself no license; he is bright, but does not dazzle.