—《道德经》第七章
图7-1 一人治天下
天長地久。天地所以能長且久者，以其不自生，故能長生。是以聖人後其身而身先；外其身而身存。非以其無私耶？故能成其私。
Heaven and earth are everlasting,
The reason of which is because they do not live for themselves,
This is how they are able to endure long.
Therefore the sage puts his own person last,
And yet it is found in the foremost place;
He treats his person as if it were foreign to himself,
And yet his personality is preserved.
Is it not because he has no private ends himself,
That therefore he realizes himself?
【解】“天长地久”是一句互文，也就是说天地长久，后面相同的描述用从句解决。这段有点像“四哥”（雍正帝）的一幅对联“惟以一人治天下 岂为天下奉一人”，位于养心殿西暖阁，这里是雍正帝处理政务和批阅奏折的地方。这句诗雍正帝根据唐太宗时名臣张蕴古之《大宝箴》中一句改编，原句为：“故以一人治天下，不以天下奉一人。”其实《道德经》通篇都是讨论统治的艺术，希望统治者“无私”，才能实现其真正的“私”，也就是天下大治。和孟子“何必曰利”异曲同工。
