Hoofdstuk 49 van het Laozi

Saintshèng personrén withoutwú mindxīn, withyǐ hundredbǎi familyxìng mindxīn aswéi mindxīn.
Goodshàn personzhě Iwú goodshàn himzhī, notbù goodshàn personzhě Iwú alsoyì goodshàn himzhī, getdé goodshàn.
Trustingxìn personzhě Iwú trustxìn himzhī, notbù trustingxìn personzhě Iwú alsoyì trustxìn himzhī, getdé trustxìn.
Saintshèng personrén inzài worldtiān underxià, fearchù fearchù; forwéi worldtiān underxià, mixhún hisqí mindxīn.
Hundredbǎi familyxìng alljiē focuszhù hisqí earěr eyemù, Saintshèng personrén alljiē childhái himzhī.

He governs according to the customs of the people; he does not offend their feelings and adjusts his feelings to theirs.

苏轼 Sū Shì: He has no fixed feelings; he bases his feelings on those of the people. Whether people are virtuous or not, he treats them all as virtuous; whether they are sincere or hypocritical, he treats them all as sincere. He knows that virtue or vice, sincerity or hypocrisy reside in them; that is why his feelings do not change. If it were otherwise, if he treated virtuous people as such and rejected the non-virtuous; if he treated sincere people as such and rejected the hypocrites, could one say that he knows how to constantly save people? That is why he rejects no one. In the world, the good and the bad, the sincere and the hypocritical, approve of themselves, while they slander and tear each other apart. The Sage treats them all the same. He does not rejoice at the sight of the good; he does not express displeasure at the sight of the bad. In this way, neither the good become arrogant, nor the bad become angry. Then all convert, and the world begins to enjoy peace.

Literally "I treat, etc." 老子 Lǎozǐ uses the pronoun 吾 wú, "I" four times before the verbs 善 shàn and 信 xìn. This passage has received another interpretation: If someone is virtuous, I imitate his virtue; if someone is not virtuous, I welcome him with a feeling of virtue, so that he returns to virtue. If someone is sincere, I imitate his sincerity. If someone is not sincere, I treat him with sincerity, so that he returns to sincerity.

Such is his 德 dé, which can be called extremely virtuous (至善 zhìshàn), extremely sincere (至信 zhìxìn).

The B edition offers the reading 得 dé, "possess," instead of 德 dé, "merit": "He possesses virtue, he possesses sincerity."

This expression means that he treats perverse and hypocritical people as if they were virtuous and sincere, and makes no distinction between them.

The people, seeing that the Sage seems not to distinguish between good and bad, cannot fathom his motives and look at him in astonishment; that is why they focus their ears and eyes on him. On his part, the Sage regards the people as children. He knows that they are as ignorant as children. Indeed, a child has too limited a perspective to understand the conduct of a great man. Similarly, the people cannot fathom and understand the ways of the Sage.

The people admire the examples of the Sage, they listen eagerly to his words, they contemplate him with respect, they trust him, they love him like a father and mother. On his part, the Sage fears to offend the people, he cares for them with solicitude and cherishes them like a newborn child.