季康子问政于孔子，曰，如杀无道，以就有道，何如。孔子对曰，子为政，焉用杀，子欲善，而民善矣，君子之德风，小人之德草，草上之风必偃。
Modern Chinese Guide
季康子向孔子请教政事说：如果杀掉无道的人，来成全有道的人，怎么样？孔子回答说：您治理政事，何必用杀戮呢？您想把事情做好，百姓自然也会向善。在上位者的德行好比风，百姓的德行好比草，风吹到草上，草一定会随着倒伏。
James Legge Translation
Chi 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."
Source: James Legge, public domain, 1893.
Notes
- 底本：Wikisource 整理的 James Legge《The Chinese Classics》公版中英文本（1893–1895）。
- 简体化：原文由繁体转为简体（OpenCC），与公版英译逐句对应。
- 白话参考底本：《白话论语读本》，张兆瑢、沈元起编译，上海广益书局1948 年新三版。