What does this quote mean?

[Nickles]

“You who govern public affairs, what need have you to employ
punishments? Love virtue, and the people will be virtuous. The
virtues of a superior man are like the wind; the virtues of a common
man are like the grass – I the grass, when the wind passes over it,
bends.”

It was from Walden, (Henry David Thoreau) but it was in quotations so my guess it’s also from somewhere else.

Anyone care to translate it into plain english?

[HazelNutCoffee]

@Nickles

“You who govern public affairs, what need have you to employ
punishments? Love virtue, and the people will be virtuous. The
virtues of a superior man are like the wind; the virtues of a common
man are like the grass – I the grass, when the wind passes over it,
bends.”

Rough paraphrase: Government officials, why do you need to use punishments to control the people you govern? If you set a virtuous example, the people will follow your example and be virtuous as well. Just as the grass is bent by the wind, the common man is guided by the example of the superior man.

[spingears]

@Nickles

“You who govern public affairs, what need have you to employ
punishments? Love virtue, and the people will be virtuous. The
virtues of a superior man are like the wind; the virtues of a common
man are like the grass – I the grass, when the wind passes over it,
bends.”

It was from Walden, (Henry David Thoreau) but it was in quotations so my guess it’s also from somewhere else.

Anyone care to translate it into plain english?

WAG Abraham Lincoln said: “No man is good enough to govern another man without that man’s consent.”

[devilsknew]

It is Taoist in nature, but not truly a quote from the Tao Te Ching. Maybe an amalgam…it reminds me of Verse 3 and Verse 76

[Speaker_for_the_Dead]

@HazelNutCoffee

Rough paraphrase: Government officials, why do you need to use punishments to control the people you govern? If you set a virtuous example, the people will follow your example and be virtuous as well. Just as the grass is bent by the wind, the common man is guided by the example of the superior man.

That’s exactly how I read it.

[yabob]

@devilsknew

It is Taoist in nature, but not truly a quote from the Tao Te Ching. Maybe an amalgam…it reminds me of Verse 3 and Verse 76

In the same ballpark, try the Analects of Confucious:

Killing not to be talked of by rulers; the effect of their example.

Chî K’ang asked Confucius about government, saying, “What do you say to killing the unprincipled for the good of the principled?” Confucius replied, “Sir, in carrying on your government, why should you use killing at all? Let your evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. The relation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend, when the wind blows across it.”

Different wording in different translations of course. That’s from here:

http://wadsworth.com/religion_d/templates/student_resources/0534559956_richter/images/confucius.html

[devilsknew]

@Devilsknew

It is Taoist in nature, but not truly a quote from the Tao Te Ching. Maybe an amalgam…it reminds me of Verse 3 and Verse 76

@yabob

In the same ballpark, try the Analects of Confucious:

Different wording in different translations of course. That’s from here:

http://wadsworth.com/religion_d/templates/student_resources/0534559956_richter/images/confucius.html

Well, I would consider that a play by Confucious from Lao Tzu’s playbook in Lao Tzu’s Ballpark.

[devilsknew]

@devilsknew

Well, I would consider that a play by Confucious from Lao Tzu’s playbook in Lao Tzu’s Ballpark.

Admittedly, Lao Tzu is probably amalgamated in entity…so true attribution is questionable.

[Walloon]

The Confucian Analects, XII, 19.