Only when the avenue is abandoned will arbitrariness be advocated: only when originality appears will fraud occur; Only when the six parents are not in harmony can there be a dutiful son and a loving father; Only when the country is in chaos can there be loyal ministers. Laozi believes that the avenue conforms to nature, while benevolence, wisdom, falsehood, filial piety and loyalty all appear in the confused reality after the destruction of nature and the emergence of private ownership, which is a departure and denial of the avenue. With the development of society, selfish desires have increased. Therefore, I strongly advocate quietism to conform to nature.
Chapter 19 (Governing the Country) Abandoning wisdom will benefit the people a hundred times; Put all your eggs in one basket and abandon righteousness, enrich the people and be filial, and abandon profits skillfully, and thieves get nothing. These three are considered insufficient.
Therefore, the order belongs to you: simple and simple, with little selfish desires and no worries about learning. Put an end to and abandon cleverness and wisdom, and the people will get a hundredfold benefit; Only by putting an end to and abandoning benevolence and righteousness can the people restore the nature of filial piety; Put an end to and abandon egoism, and thieves will not exist.
These three, as cultural ornaments, are not enough to rule the country and level the world. Therefore, if the people have a place to belong: to show and stick to simplicity, reduce selfish desires and put an end to secular learning, there will be no worries.
Laozi believes that the wisdom, benevolence and cleverness of Confucianism are "promising" for rulers to disturb the people, "embellishing" for deceiving the people, "exploiting the people's interests", "disharmony among six parents" and "rampant thieves", which are the root causes of moral decay, social fashion corruption and social chaos, and should be resolutely put an end to and abandoned. The correct way can only be to stick to simplicity, reduce selfish desires, and put an end to the so-called knowledge of sage wisdom, benevolence and cleverness, so as to have no worries.
In the opposition between "literature" and "quality", Laozi emphasized "quality", and returning to nature is the way out for governing the country.