People are hard to govern. The rulers interfere with too much. That is why people are hard to govern.
Interpretation
Governance is challenging because excessive interference leads to resistance from the governed.
This quote by Laozi highlights the inherent difficulty in governing people, suggesting that the more rulers intervene in the lives of their subjects, the more resistance they encounter. The essence of the quote lies in the idea that too much control can foster a sense of rebellion and a longing for autonomy among individuals, reflecting a philosophical view on governance and the nature of authority.
In practice
In a speech about the limits of government, one might say, 'As Laozi observed, people are hard to govern due to excessive interference.'
If you understand others you are smart._x000D_ If you understand yourself you are illuminated._x000D_ If you overcome others you are powerful._x000D_ If you overcome yourself you have strength._x000D_ If you know how to be satisfied you are rich._x000D_ If you can act with vigor, you have a will._x000D_ If you don't lose your objectives you can be long-lasting._x000D_ If you die without loss, you are eternal.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.
In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.
Rule your mind with serenity rather than with force and manipulation.
Open-minded people tend to be interested in Buddhism because Buddha urged people to investigate things - he didn't just command them to believe.
Behind it all is surely an idea so simple, so beautiful, that when we grasp it - in a decade, a century, or a millennium - we will all say to each other, how could it have been otherwise? How could we have been so stupid?
No principle is worth the sacrifice of a single human being.
What is food to one man is bitter poison to others.
If the militarily most powerful and least threatened states need nuclear weapons for their security, how can one deny such security to countries that are truly insecure? The present nuclear policy is a recipe for proliferation. It is a policy for disaster.
For there are two possible reactions to social ostracism - either a man emerges determined to be better, purer, and kindlier or he goes bad, challenges the world and does even worse things. The last is by far the commonest reaction to stigma.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.