老子 太上，下知有之，其次親而譽之 For the Best Ruler, people only know he is just there; For the Second Best, they are near him and give him praise, their.

老子  【道德經】 


第十七章  (太上  下知有之)

太上，下知有之，其次親而譽之，其次畏之，其次侮之。
信不足焉，有不信焉。
悠兮，其貴言，功成事遂，百姓皆謂「我自然」。



DAO DE JING: "The Way and Virtues Classic"     
Chapter 17 
(For the Best Ruler, people only know he is just there)
-- by LAO ZI (circa 600 BC - 500 BC ?)
 -- Translated by Frank C Yue

For the Best Ruler, people only know he is just there;
For the Second Best, they are near him and give him praise, their.
For the Ruler Mediocre, all the people are in fear.
But for the Least Able One, they insult him, ne'er hold him dear.
Because he is not worthy of trust,
Him, none of the people will e'er trust!
O The Best Ruler is so leisurely! 
Who is few in words, he's the one.
After the Herculean task is done,
People will say, "We're like this naturally."



Note:
The Way -- "Dao": The Way of Nature.      

the following is copied from the net :

<《白話解》

太上下知有之，
最好的執政者依道而行，為無為(圖難於其易，為大於其細，而且沒有偏私)。所以，人民只知道有個皇帝存在，其餘就如「擊壤歌」所描述一般「日出而作，日入而息；鑿井而飲，耕田而食；帝力於我何有哉。」
 
其次親而譽之，
中上等的執政者，有以為(很會收拾爛攤子)，百姓成天期望著親民的君王幫百姓處理事情，因而大加讚譽執政者。

其次畏之，
再不濟的執政者，人民畏懼他的淫威，陽奉陰違。

其次侮之。
最差的執政者，人民都無法忍受，紛紛以暴君、獨夫、貪腐、昏君、阿斗‧‧‧等辭侮辱他。

信不足焉，有不信焉。
君主的作為不足以獲得人民的信賴，人民自然不把他當執政者看待，政變就要發生了。
悠兮其貴言：「功成事遂，百姓皆謂我自然。」

有一個悠久可貴的名言把 "聖人之治" 描述得真好：「成大功，立大業，百姓卻都說 ── 哪有什麼 “聖人之治”，這些都是我們自然做到的啊。」>