第六十五章    玄德治国

古之善为道者，非以明民，将以愚之。
民之难治，以其智多。故以智治国，国之贼；不以智治国，国之福。
知此两者亦稽式。常知稽式，是谓玄德。玄德深矣，远矣，与物反矣，然后乃至大顺。

Governing Under Natural Intelligence

Those skillful in the ancient Tao

do not try to make people learn humanstrategies and tactics,

they prefer to guide them underthe simplicity of the natural intelligence.

People are hard to lead when they are too clever. Those who lead withcleverness rob the country. Those who lead without cleverness bless thecountry.

Understanding these two Subtle power.

The Subtle Power is profound andfar-reaching,

together with the natural Law of polarity,

it leads to the Great Harmony.

 [译文]

古代悟道的人不倡导私心贪欲的智巧，而是奉行先天遵道守德的淳厚朴实。百姓之所以难以管制，就是因为基于私欲上的智巧过多。用后天的智巧治理国家是治国的祸害，不用智巧治理国家，是治国的福音。知道了这两种治国方式的差别就掌握了治国的法则。能够把握这一根本法则， 可谓真正体悟宇宙千变万化的玄德。