English
74
"WHEN the people are no longer afraid of death, Why scare them with the spectre of death? If you could make the people always afraid of death, And they still persisted in breaking the law, Then you might with reason arrest and execute them, And who would dare to break the law? Is not the Great Executor always there to kill? To do the killing for the Great Executor Is to chop wood for a master carpenter, And you would be lucky indeed if you did not hurt your own hand!"
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Author
Lao TzuBook
Tao Te Ching
Version: 5