Chapter 19
绝圣弃智
绝圣弃智，
民利百倍；
绝仁弃义，
民复孝慈；
绝巧弃利，
盗贼无有。
此三者，
以为文不足。
故令有所属：
见素抱朴，
少私寡欲。
Cut off sagehood! Cast out wisdom! The people will benefit a hundredfold. Cut off ren! Cast out right! The people will return to filiality and parental kindness. Cut off cleverness! Cast out profit! Brigands and thieves will nowhere be found. As patterns, these three are insufficient and only make the people seek to add to them. Exhibit the plainness of undyed cloth; embrace the uncarved block. Be little self-regarding and make your desires few.
A modern classroom translation, with labeled subsections for study.
© 2010, 2016, 2019 Robert Eno. Freely available for personal use and not-for-profit educational settings. For other purposes, apart from fair use, copyright is not waived.