Laozi
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。
James Legge
In the highest antiquity, (the people) did not know that there were (their rulers). In the next age they loved them and praised them. In the next they feared them; in the next they despised them. Thus it was that when faith (in the Tao) was deficient (in the rulers) a want of faith in them ensued (in the people).
How irresolute did those (earliest rulers) appear, showing (by their reticence) the importance which they set upon their words! Their work was done and their undertakings were successful, while the people all said, ‘We are as we are, of ourselves!’
Victor H. Mair
Preeminent is one whose subjects barely know he exists; The next is one to whom they feel close and praise; The next is one whom they fear; The lowest is one whom they despise. When the ruler’s trust is wanting, there will be no trust in him. Cautious, he values his words. When his work is completed and his affairs finished, the common people say, “We are like this by ourselves.”
C. Spurgeon Medhurst
First the supreme. Then a sense of separateness. Next preferences and eulogies. Lastly, fear. Then scorn. [^1]
Hence it is plain that lack of sincerity has its origin in superficial faith.
Cautious! They valued their words, [^2] accomplished their purposes, settled their affairs, and the people all said: ‘We are spontaneous.’ [^3]
In Eden, man at first had no consciousness of himself. He was untempted because without personal desire. It was the contemplation of the fruit as of something which had the power of pleasing, which gave birth to the idea of caring and striving for that phenomenal self whose reflection finds its center in our emotions and judgments. It is the separation of our personalities from our true individuality which arouses within us the sense of conflict. First the Supreme; then a sense of separateness. Preferences, eulogies, fear, scorn, are inevitable results. At this stage man loses his power over nature. “Thorns and thistles” grow apace. Duty becomes labor. The curse is pronounced—“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.”
How shall the status quo ante be attained? By retracing the false steps. Contemplation of the True and Eternal must revive and nourish the lost faith. The emotions must be brought under control, so that no excess of feeling shall cause the mouth to exaggerate or distort truth. Words must be weighed, so that there shall ever be a proper relation between the spoken speech and the person to whom it is addressed. By sympathetic insight, which looks at everything from the view-point of the other, and speaks accordingly, one’s purposes will be accomplished, and those affected by us helped and not hindered. Without understanding why, the whole neighborhood will be benefited. And the people all said, “We are natural."
"Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. If any man seemeth to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his heart, this man’s religion is vain. For in many things we all stumble. If any stumble not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.”
[^1] The various stages of descent into matter. Students will recall the well-known Gnostic phrase, “the falling down of the Aeons.”
[^2] “The ancients were slow of speech, lest in their acts they should not come up to what they said. The wise man is slow of utterance, but diligent in action.”—Confucius.
[^3] Chuang-tzu aptly describes the mass of mankind as babes who receive “the benefits of a mother’s care without troubling themselves to think to whom they are indebted for them.”
Ursula K. Le Guin
True leaders are hardly known to their followers. Next after them are the leaders the people know and admire; after them, those they fear; after them, those they despise.
To give no trust is to get no trust.
When the work’s done right, with no fuss or boasting, ordinary people say, Oh, we did it.
Note UKLG: This invisible leader, who gets things done in such a way that people think they did it all themselves, isn’t one who manipulates others from behind the scenes; just the opposite. Again, it’s a matter of “doing without doing”: uncompetitive, unworried, trustful accomplishment, power that is not force. An example or analogy might be a very good teacher, or the truest voice in a group of singers.