When governance is dull and unseen,
the people become simple and genuine.
When governance is sharp and intrusive,
the people become discontent and cunning.

Misfortune leans upon the shoulders of fortune;
fortune hides within the heart of misfortune.
Who can understand where it ends?
There is no fixed right.

The right reverts to the strange;
the good reverts to the ominous.
People have long been lost in delusion.

Therefore, the sage is:
square but never cutting,
pointed but never piercing,
direct but never overreaching,
bright but never dazzling.