Tao Te Ching · Ch. 57

以正治國,以奇用兵,以無事取天下。吾何以知其然哉?以此:天下多忌諱,而民彌貧;民多利器,國家滋昏;人多伎巧,奇物滋起;法令滋彰,盜賊多有。故聖人云:我無為,而民自化;我好靜,而民自正;我無事,而民自富;我無欲,而民自樸。

Yǐ zhèng zhì guó, yǐ qí yòng bīng, yǐ wú shì qǔ tiān xià. Wú hé yǐ zhī qí rán zāi? Yǐ cǐ: Tiān xià duō jì huì, ér mín mí pín; Mín duō lì qì, guó jiā zī hūn; Rén duō jì qiǎo, qí wù zī qǐ; Fǎ lìng zī zhāng, dào zéi duō yǒu. Gù shèng rén yún: Wǒ wú wéi, ér mín zì huà; Wǒ hào jìng, ér mín zì zhèng; Wǒ wú shì, ér mín zì fù; Wǒ wú yù, ér mín zì pǔ.

Govern the state with uprightness; deploy the military with surprise tactics; but win the world by taking no deliberate action. How do I know this is so? By this: the more prohibitions there are, the poorer the people; the more weapons the people have, the more troubled the state; the more clever schemes arise, the more strange things appear; the more laws are proclaimed, the more thieves and robbers there are. Therefore the sage says: I act without acting, and the people transform themselves; I love stillness, and the people right themselves; I take no deliberate action, and the people become prosperous; I have no desires, and the people return to simplicity.

— Tao Te Ching 57

Source: Wang Bi edition (Chinese) + Hanyu Pinyin transliteration