Chapter 58

其政悶悶，其民淳淳；
其政察察，其民缺缺。
禍兮，福之所倚，福兮，禍之所伏。
孰知其極？
其無正也。
正復為奇，善復為妖。
人之迷，其日固久。
是以聖人方而不割，廉而不劌，直而不肆，光而不耀。

When the government is dull, the people are simple;
when the government is sharp, the people are broken.
Misfortune is what good fortune leans on; good fortune is where misfortune hides.
Who knows where it ends?
There is no fixed norm.
The orthodox turns back into the unorthodox, the good turns back into the uncanny.
People have been lost for a long time now.
That is why the sage is square but does not cut, has edges but does not wound, is straight but does not overreach, shines but does not dazzle.