Line by Line - Verse 58, Line 10

and the good in it shall by a turn become evil.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Goodness becomes witchcraft.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Goodness reverts to become wicked
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Correct appearances
may hide dishonesty and sinfulness.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Derek Lin makes an excellent point about this line in conjunction with the previous one.

It is hard to say what is good or bad. A ruler may think it's a good thing to spy on people, without realizing that this leads to ever more dissatisfaction and alienation. What seems like a good idea can turn into a disaster and vice versa.

Another way to view this line could be summed up in a popular idiom: The road to hell is paved with good intentions!

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