老子《道德經》英譯第十九章

　　【原文】

　　絕圣棄智，民利百倍;

　　絕仁棄義，民復孝慈;

　　絕巧棄利，盜賊無有。

　　此三者以為文，不足。

　　故令有所屬：見素抱樸，少思寡欲，絕學無憂。

　　【現(xiàn)代漢語】

　　拋棄投機取巧的智巧，人民就能得到百倍的好處;拋棄矯飾的仁、義，就可使人民恢復孝慈的天性;拋棄巧詐和利誘，盜賊就會消失。智巧、仁、義、巧詐和利誘都是虛偽矯飾的，不能以此治理天下。所以，要讓人民有所歸屬，保持質樸，減少私欲，拋棄所謂的機巧、仁義巧詐的學問，就可以沒有憂慮了。

　　【英譯】

　　If we could renounce opportunistic trick , it would be better for the people a hundredfold; If we could discard strained virtue and morality, the people would again become filial and kindly; If we could discard fraud and desire of gain, there would be no thieves nor robbers.

　　The alleged trick, strained virtue and morality, fraud and desire of gain (sparkplugged by government of Lao Tse’s age) are all false and strained. All of them could not be used in managing state and political affair. So, the governor should make themselves be organization that the people could believe in and depend upon. To keep unpretending simple self, check the selfishness, spurn the above deceptive behavior at the same time, and then there will be no troubles.

　　【備注】

　　很多觀點認為老子本章專門投入筆墨諷刺打擊以孔子為首的儒家思想，包括“仁、義、禮，圣人”等等，包括后面的許多章節(jié)。

　　但仔細讀幾遍，再對照道家、儒家的其他經典分析，便發(fā)現(xiàn)老子并無此意。其抨擊的目標實際上是那些假借“仁義”欺世盜名的“偽人”，為達私欲而弄虛作假的政客。同時，也借此勸諫當權者不要走上“上有所好，下必甚焉”的歧路。