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Chapter 72

民不畏威

民mín不bù畏wèi威wēi，
则zé大dà威wēi至zhì。
无wú狎xiá其qí所suǒ居jū，
无wú厌yàn其qí所suǒ生shēng。
夫fū唯wéi不bù厌yàn，
是shì以yǐ不bù厌yàn。
是shì以yǐ圣shèng人rén自zì知zhī不bù自zì见jiàn；
自zì爱ài不bù自zì贵guì。
故gù去qù彼bǐ取qǔ此cǐ。

a> When the people do not hold the awesome in awe, awful events occur.

b> Do not narrow their living space nor crush their means of livelihood. Because you do not crush them, they will not view you as a crushing burden.

c> Therefore the sage knows himself but does not display himself, cherishes himself but does not honor himself.

Thus he discards the one and takes the other.

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.