♦When you are compelled to interfere°,A [he] [have,possess] ♦Then you are not qualified to3 take hold of the world2. Notes A : literally, when you “possess interference”; although 事 does not ordinarily mean interfere, this is assumed by reflection from the previous line Cross-references non-action : #2, #3, #37, #38, #43, #57, #63, #64 nothing is left undone : #37 non-interference : #57, #63 possess or take hold of the world or nation : #29, #57, #59, #61 by using non-interference : #57 Chapter Forty Nine 聖 人 無 常 心 以 百 姓 心 為 心 善 者 吾 善 之 不 善 者 吾 亦 善 之 德 善 • 信 者 吾 信 之 不 信 者 吾 亦 信 之 德 信 • 聖 人 在 天 下 歙 歙 [焉] 為 天 下 渾 其 心 百 姓 皆 注 其 耳 目 聖 人 皆 孩 之 The sage does not have a constant heart/mind, Thus the 100 families’ heart/minds become his heart/mind. He who is virtuous, I am virtuous to him. He who is not virtuous, I am also virtuous to him. Because De is virtue. He who is honest, I am honest with him. He who is not honest, I am also honest with him. Because De is honesty. The sage lives in the world, gathering it all in. And so he serves the world, merging with their heart/minds. The 100 families all pay attention to their ears and eyes, And the sage treats them all like his children. The sage2 does not have a constant heart/mind, ♦Thus the 100 families’ heart/minds become his heart/mind. ♦He who is virtuous, I am virtuous to him. ♦He who is not virtuous, I am also virtuous to him. ♦Because De is virtue. ♦He who is honest*, I am honest* with him. ♦He who is not honest*, I am also honest* with him. ♦Because De is honesty*. ♦The sage2 lives in the world2, gathering it all in2A. [inhale inhale] ♦And so he serves the world2, merging with their heart/minds.B ♦The 100 families all pay attention to their ears and eyesC, ♦And the sage2 treats them all like [his]D children. Notes A : compare to #50, which refers to one who “takes in life”; “gathering” is used for consistency with #36; the repeated symbol implies “very”, hence completeness B : this line can be translated in many ways, mainly due to the fact that the symbol for “merges” can also mean “muddled” or “whole”; also 其 (his/their) could be referring to the sage or to the 100 families; the choices made here are consistent with the first two lines of the chapter C : compare to #12, where the sage does not act on what he sees