← The Dao De Jing
Chapter 19
Drop Sanctity, Drop Cunning
绝圣弃智
The Text
绝圣弃智，民利百倍；绝仁弃义，民复孝慈；绝巧弃利，盗贼无有。此三者以为文，不足。故令有所属：见素抱朴，少私寡欲。
Drop sanctity, drop cleverness — the people gain a hundredfold. Drop benevolence, drop righteousness — the people return to filial duty and parental care. Drop skill, drop profit — thieves and robbers vanish. These three are ornaments, insufficient. Better: see the plain, hold the uncarved; reduce the self, desire less.
Reading it
The chapter deletes three moral vocabularies in a row, then tells you what remains when they are gone: plain seeing and fewer wants. It is not against goodness — it is against goodness as a costume.
连删三套道德词汇，再告诉你删完剩下什么：素朴的看见，更少的欲望。本章不反对善——反对的是善作为戏服。
Practice for the week
Do one good thing this week that has no name and cannot be described as a virtue.
这周做一件没有名字、也无法被描述为美德的好事。