2. Abstraction 3. Without Action
16. Decay and Renewal 17. Rulers
24. Indulgence 25. Beneath Abstraction
36. Opposition 37. Tranquillity
40. Motion and Use 41. Following
52. Clarity 53. Difficult Paths
54. Cultivate Harmony 55. Soft Bones
56. Impartiality 57. Conquer with Inaction
57. Conquer with Inaction 58. No End
63. Difficulty 64a. Care at the Beginning
64b. Care at the End 65. Subtlety
66. Lead by Following 67. Unimportance
70. Individuality 71. Limitation
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.