Chapter 58
其政闷闷
a> When the government is narrow and dull the people are simple and pure; when the government is clear and acute the people are sharp and crafty.
b> Disaster – good fortune adheres therein; good fortune – disaster lurks therein.
Who knows its limit? It possesses no settled norm. The norm turns into the anomaly, the good turns into the monstrous. It has been long indeed that men have lost their way.
c> Hence the sage is like a square that does not cut, a corner that is not sharp, a straight line that cannot align, a light that does not shine.
A modern classroom translation, with labeled subsections for study.
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