Chapter 58
A government that seems unwise often serves its people best; one that meddles in everything brings only trouble and disappointment.
Misery—happiness lies right beside it! Happiness—misery hides beneath it! Who knows where either will end up?
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Should we then do away with correction? Correction itself can turn into distortion, and what is good in it can turn into evil. People have been confused about this for a very long time.
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So the sage is like a square whose corners cut no one; like an edge that wounds no one with its sharpness. He is straightforward, but takes no liberties; he is bright, but does not dazzle.
