Laozi · Complete work
Chapter 3
Chapter 3 of 81. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
不尚賢，使民不爭；不貴難得之貨，使民不為盜；不見可欲，使心不亂。是以聖人之治，虛其心，實其腹，弱其志，強其骨。常使民無知無欲。使夫知者不敢為也。為無為，則無不治。
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.
Do not exalt the worthy, and the people will not contend;Do not prize goods hard to obtain, and the people will not become thieves;Do not display what can be desired, and their hearts will not be disordered.Therefore, in the sage’s governance, he empties their hearts, fills their bellies, weakens their ambitions, and strengthens their bones.He constantly keeps the people without knowledge and without desire.He keeps those who know from daring to act.Act through nonaction, and nothing will be ungoverned.
OpenTao
Complete CC BY 4.0 translation made directly from the received Chinese text; source line structure preserved.
When rulers do not exalt the talented, the people do not contend;when they do not prize rare goods, the people do not turn to theft;when they do not display what awakens desire, hearts and minds are not thrown into disorder.So the sage rules by emptying their hearts and minds, filling their bellies, weakening their ambitions, and strengthening their bones.He keeps the people always free of calculation and craving.He keeps the clever from daring to interfere.Act without forcing, and nothing remains out of order.
James Legge (1891)
Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.
1. Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keep the people from rivalry among themselves; not to prize articles which are difficult to procure is the way to keep them from becoming thieves; not to show them what is likely to excite their desires is the way to keep their minds from disorder.
2. Therefore the sage, in the exercise of his government, empties their minds, fills their bellies, weakens their wills, and strengthens their bones.
3. He constantly (tries to) keep them without knowledge and without desire, and where there are those who have knowledge, to keep them from presuming to act (on it). When there is this abstinence from action, good order is universal.