Tao Te Ching · Ch. 60

治大國若烹小鮮。以道蒞天下,其鬼不神;非其鬼不神,其神不傷人;非其神不傷人,聖人亦不傷人。夫兩不相傷,故德交歸焉。

Zhì dà guó ruò pēng xiǎo xiān. Yǐ dào lì tiān xià, qí guǐ bù shén; Fēi qí guǐ bù shén, qí shén bù shāng rén; Fēi qí shén bù shāng rén, shèng rén yì bù shāng rén. Fú liǎng bù xiāng shāng, gù dé jiāo guī yān.

Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish — handle it too much and you ruin it. When the Tao presides over the world, even the spirits lose their power to harm. It is not that the spirits lose their power; their power simply does not harm people. Not only do the spirits not harm people — the sage too does not harm people. When neither harms the other, virtue flows back and forth between them.

— Tao Te Ching 60

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