Chapter LVIII
(Chapter 58)

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Ko Yuen Translation

Adaption to Environment
1. The government that exerciseth the least care serveth the people best; that which meddleth with everybody's business worketh all manner of harm.  Sorrow and joy are bedfellows; who can divine the final result of either?
2. Shall we avoid restriction?  Yea; restriction distorteth nature, so that even what seemeth good in it is evil.  For how long have men suffered from misunderstanding of this.
3. The wise man is foursquare, and avoideth aggression; his corners do not injure others.  He moveth in a straight line1 and turneth not aside therefrom; he is brilliant2 but doth not blind with his brightness3.

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S. Mitchell Translation
If a country is governed with tolerance,
the people are comfortable and honest.
If a country is governed with repression,
the people are depressed and crafty.

When the will to power is in charge,
the higher the ideals, the lower the results.
Try to make people happy,
and you lay the groundwork for misery.
Try to make people moral,
and you lay the groundwork for vice.

Thus the Master is content
to serve as an example
and not to impose her will.
She is pointed, but doesn't pierce.
Straightforward, but supple.
Radiant, but easy on the eyes.

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James Legge Translation
1. The 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.

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

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GNL not Lao Interpolation

No End
When government is lazy and informal
The people are kind and honest;
When government is efficient and severe
The people are discontented and deceitful.

Good fortune follows upon disaster;
Disaster lurks within good fortune;
Who can say how things will end?
Perhaps there is no end.

Honesty is ever deceived;
Kindness is ever seduced;
Men have been like this for a long time.

So the sage is firm but not cutting,
Pointed but not piercing,
Straight but not rigid,
Bright but not blinding.

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Ko Yuen Commentary
1. According to his Will.

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2. Like a Star.

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3. Because he keeps to his own orbit.

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