第七十二章  水可覆舟

民不畏威，則大威至。無狎其所居，無厭其所生。夫唯不厭，是以不厭。 是以圣人自知不自見，自愛不自貴。故去彼取此。

WaterSwallows Boats Occationally

When people lack a sense of awe, then something awful will happen.

If peopleno longer have fear for authority,

therecomes the real trouble.

Do not constrict people's living space. Do not suppress theirlivelihoods. It is because you do not oppress them that your leadership will berespected.

Therefore, the Sage knows himself, But makes no show of himself; Loveshimself, But does not exalt himself.

He lets go of showing off and conceit, and embraces self-knowledge andlove.

 [譯文]

當(dāng)百姓不畏懼威鎮(zhèn)時，推翻統(tǒng)治的反抗就要來了。不要逼迫百姓無處安居，不要壓榨百姓無法生存。只有不壓迫人民，才不會被百姓所厭惡和拋棄。因此，真正悟道的人不自以為是，懂得珍愛自我而不自居高貴。

因此，他們能夠自知，自愛，而不自見，自貴。