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"If government is muted and muffled People are cool and refreshed. If government investigates and intrudes, People are worn down and hopeless. Bad fortune rests upon good fortune. Good luck hides within bad luck. Who knows how it will end? If there is no principle Principle reverts to disorder, Good reverts to calamity, People's confusion hardens and lingers on. Therefore the Sage Squares without cutting, Corners without dividing, Straightens without extending, Shines without dazzling."

Author

Lao Tzu

All Translations

English

"If government is muted and muffled People are cool and refreshed. If government investigates and intrudes, People are worn down and hopeless. Bad fortune rests upon good fortune. Good luck hides within bad luck. Who knows how it will end? If there is no principle Principle reverts to disorder, Good reverts to calamity, People's confusion hardens and lingers on. Therefore the Sage Squares without cutting, Corners without dividing, Straightens without extending, Shines without dazzling."

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