Who is brave and bold will perish;

Who is brave and subtle will benefit.

The subtle profit where the bold perish

For fate does not honour daring.

And even the sage dares not tempt fate.

Fate does not attack, yet all things are conquered by it;

It does not ask, yet all things answer to it;

It does not call, yet all things meet it;

It does not plan, yet all things are determined by it.

Fate's net is vast and its mesh is coarse,

Yet none escape it.

If people were not afraid of death,

Then what would be the use of an executioner?

If people were only afraid of death,

And you executed everyone who did not obey,

No one would dare to disobey you.

Then what would be the use of an executioner?

People fear death because death is an instrument of fate.

When people are killed by execution rather than by fate,

This is like carving wood in the place of a carpenter.

Those who carve wood in place of a carpenter

Often injure their hands.

When rulers take grain so that they may feast,

Their people become hungry;

When rulers take action to serve their own interests,

Their people become rebellious;

When rulers take lives so that their own lives are maintained,

Their people no longer fear death.

When people act without regard for their own lives

They overcome those who value only their own lives.