THE DOCTRINE OF INACTION
The Sage occupies himself with inaction, and conveys instruction without words.
Is it not by neglecting self-interest that one will be able to achieve it?
Purge yourself of your profound intelligence, and you can still be free from blemish. Cherish the people and order the kingdom, and you can still do without meddlesome action.
Who is there that can make muddy water clear? But if allowed to remain still, it will gradually become dear of itself. Who is there that can secure a state of absolute repose? But let time go on, and the state of repose will gradually arise. Be sparing of speech, and things will come right of themselves.
A violent wind does not outlast the morning; a squall of rain does not outlast the day. Such is the course of Nature. And if Nature herself cannot sustain her efforts long, how much less can man!
Attain complete vacuity, and sedulously preserve a state of repose.
Tao is eternally inactive, and yet it leaves nothing undone. If kings and princes could but hold fast to this principle, all things would work
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