Daodejing - Chapter Nineteen

 

道德經  - 第十九章

絕聖棄智，民利百倍；

絕仁棄義，民復孝慈；

絕巧棄利，盜賊無有。

此三者以為文不足。

故令有所屬：見素抱樸，少私寡欲。

Daodejing - Chapter Nineteen

Throw away holiness and wisdom, and people will be a hundred times happier.

Throw away morality and justice, and people will do the right thing.

Throw away industry and profit, and there won't be any thieves.

If these three aren't enough, just stay at the center of the circle, and let all things take their course.

Reference

1. The above translation is based on the translation by poet, translator, scholar and anthologist, Stephen Mitchell.  His reading of the work can be found on the following YouTube video: Tao Te Ching, The Book Of The Way by Lao Tzu:https://youtu.be/t109UFLSQhk?t=1731
2. This chapter on the above video starts at 28.50 and ends at 29.35.
3. You can find the complete 81 chapters of Daodejing in Chinese and English (James Legge version) in the ctext.org website: https://ctext.org/dao-de-jing