Chapter 58
第五十八章
The government that seems the most unwise, Oft goodness to the people best supplies;
其政闷闷，其民淳淳；
That which is meddling, touching everything, Will work but ill, and disappointment bring.
其政察察，其民缺缺。
Misery!--happiness is to be found by its side! Happiness!--misery lurks beneath it!
祸兮，福之所倚；福兮，祸之所伏。
Who knows what either will come to in the end?
孰知其极：

Shall we then dispense with correction?
其无正也。
The (method of) correction shall by a turn become distortion, and the good in it shall by a turn become evil.
正复为奇，善复为妖。
The delusion of the people (on this point) has indeed subsisted for a long time.
人之迷，其日固久。
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.
是以圣人方而不割，廉而不刿，直而不肆，光而不耀。