Chapter 60

Governing a large state is like cooking small fish.

When a kingdom is governed according to the Tao, the spirits of the dead will not show their supernatural power. It’s not that they lack such power, but that it won’t be used to harm people. It’s not that it couldn’t harm people, but the ruling sage also does not harm them.

When these two do not harm each other, their good influences flow together into the virtue of the Tao.