Lao Tzu Tao Teachings - Verse 57

Govern the country by being straightforward.
Wage war by being crafty.
Win all under heaven by not meddling.

How do I know that this is so?
By what is within me.

The more restrictions there are, the poorer are the people.
The more pointed the people’s weapons,
the more disorder there is in the country.
The more ingenious and clever the people,
the more strange the contrivances that appear.
The more laws and edicts that are posted,
the more thieves and robbers that arise.

Hence an Old One has said:
I act without striving and the people transform themselves.
I love stillness and the people straighten themselves.
I do not meddle and the people prosper by themselves.
I am free from desires and the people themselves
return to the simplicity of the Uncarved Block.

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