Daodejing, Book of the Way and Virtue Chapter 74

民不畏死，奈何以死懼之？若使民常畏死，而為奇者，吾得執而殺之，孰敢？ 常有司殺者殺，夫代司殺者殺，是謂代大匠斲。 夫代大匠斲者，希有不傷其手矣。

The people do not fear death; to what purpose is it to (try to) frighten them with death? If the people were always in awe of death, and I could always seize those who do wrong, and put them to death, who would dare to do wrong? There is always One who presides over the infliction death. He who would inflict death in the room of him who so presides over it may be described as hewing wood instead of a great carpenter. Seldom is it that he who undertakes the hewing, instead of the great carpenter, does not cut his own hands!

Lorsque le peuple ne craint pas la mort, comment l’effrayer par la menace de la mort ? Si le peuple craint constamment la mort, et que quelqu’un fasse le mal, je puis le saisir et le tuer, et alors qui osera (l’imiter) ? Il y a constamment un magistrat suprême qui inflige la mort. Si l’on veut remplacer ce magistrat suprême, et infliger soi-même la mort, on ressemble à un homme (inhabile) qui voudrait tailler le bois à la place d’un charpentier. Lorsqu’on veut tailler le bois à la place d’un charpentier, il est rare qu’on ne se blesse pas les mains.