People have their own way and cannot be manipulated. 36 Renounce our learning and discard our wisdom, the people will benefit a hundredfold. Renounce our benevolence and discard our righteousness, the people will again become filial and kindly. Renounce our stratagems and discard our scheming for gain, there will be no thieves nor robbers. Therefore the wise leader empties their minds of ambition, fills their bellies, tempers their desires, and strengthens their bones.
Nature presides over the delivery of death.
He who would inflict death in place of nature may be described as hacking at wood in the room of a skilled carpenter. When the people do not fear what they ought to fear, their greatest dread will descend on them. There is no calamity greater than lightly engaging in war. To do that is to risk losing all that is precious. Thus it is that when opposing weapons clash, he who deplores it conquers.