The Difficulty of Persuasion說難
凡說之難，非吾知之有以說之之難也，又非吾辯之能明吾意之難也，又非吾敢橫失而能盡之難也。凡說之難，在知所說之心，可以吾說當之。所說出於爲名高者也，而說之以厚利，則見下節而遇卑賤，必弃遠矣。所說出於厚利者也，而說之以名高，則見無心而遠事情，必不收矣。所說陰爲厚利而顯爲名高者也，而說之以名高，則陽收其身而實䟽之；說之以厚利，則陰用其言顯弃其身矣。此不可不察也。
The difficulty of persuasion is not the difficulty of speaking with what I know, nor the difficulty of making my meaning clear with my skill in words, nor the difficulty of daring to speak out freely and say the whole of it. The difficulty of persuasion lies in knowing the heart of the one I am to persuade, so that I may fit my words to it. If the one I am to persuade is a man bent on a high name and I speak to him of thick profit, I shall be thought low in principle and shall be met as a mean man, and I am sure to be cast off and pushed away. If the one I am to persuade is a man bent on thick profit and I speak to him of a high name, I shall be thought heartless and far from the true state of things, and I am sure not to be taken in. If the one I am to persuade is a man who within is bent on thick profit while without he holds up a high name, then if I speak to him of a high name he will take me in outwardly and in truth hold me at a distance, and if I speak to him of thick profit he will use my words in secret and cast off my person in the open. This must be looked into.
夫事以密成，語以泄敗。未必其身泄之也，而語及所匿之事，如此者身危。彼顯有所出事，而乃以成他故，說者不徒知所出而已矣，又知其所以爲，如此者身危。規異事而當，知者揣之外而得之，事泄於外，必以爲己也，如此者身危。周澤未渥也，而語極知，說行而有功，則德忘；說不行而有敗，則見疑，如此者身危。貴人有過端，而說者明言禮義以挑其惡，如此者身危。貴人或得計而欲自以爲功，說者與知焉，如此者身危。彊以其所不能爲，止以其所不能已，如此者身危。故與之論大人，則以爲間己矣；與之論細人，則以爲賣重。論其所愛，則以爲藉資；論其所憎，則以爲嘗己也。徑省其說，則以爲不智而拙之；米鹽博辯，則以爲多而久之。略事陳意，則曰怯懦而不盡；慮事廣肆，則曰草野而倨侮。此說之難，不可不知也。
Affairs are brought about by secrecy and talk is broken by leaking. It need not be that the man himself let it out: if his talk touches on a hidden matter, such a man is in danger. The other has some affair he shows in the open, but in truth he is bringing about another end; and if the persuader knows not only what is shown but also the end he is working for, such a man is in danger. He plans an out-of-the-way affair and it hits the mark; a knowing man guesses it from outside and finds it out; the affair leaks abroad and the other is sure to hold him to blame for it, and such a man is in danger. The thick favor is not yet deep, and he speaks out all that he knows: if his words are put into practice and there is merit, the good he did is forgotten, and if his words are not put into practice and there is a failure, he is held in suspicion; such a man is in danger. An honored man has the beginning of a fault in him, and the persuader speaks clearly of rites and right to lay bare his wickedness; such a man is in danger. An honored man has hit upon some plan and wishes to take the merit of it for himself, and the persuader shares the knowing of it; such a man is in danger. To force him to what he cannot do, to stop him in what he cannot leave off — such a man is in danger. So if you discuss great men with him, he thinks you are driving a wedge between him and them; if you discuss small men with him, he thinks you are selling your weight. If you discuss the one he loves, he thinks you are making a stepping-stone of him; if you discuss the one he hates, he thinks you are sounding him out. If you speak plainly and briefly, he thinks you unwise and calls you clumsy; if you spread out every grain of rice and salt, he thinks you long-winded and says you drag it out. If you set out the matter in brief and give only your meaning, he says you are timid and do not say the whole; if you weigh the matter broadly and lay it all out, he says you are rough from the fields and insolent. These are the difficulties of persuasion, and they must be known.
凡說之務，在知飾所說之所矜而滅其所恥。彼有私急也，必以公義示而强之。其意有下也，然而不能已，說者因爲之飾其美而少其不爲也。其心有高也，而實不能及，說者爲之㪯其過而見其惡，而多其不行也。有欲矜以智能，則爲之㪯異事之同類者，多爲之地，使之資說於我，而佯不知也以資其智。欲内相存之言，則必以美名明之，而微見其合於私利也。欲陳危害之事，則顯其毁誹而微見其合於私患也。譽異人與同行者，規異事與同計者。有與同汙者，則必以大飾其無傷也；有與同敗者，則必以明飾其無失也。彼自多其力，則毋以其難概之也；自勇其斷，則無以其謫怒之；自智其計，則毋以其敗窮之。大意無所拂悟，辭言無所繫縻，然後極騁智辯焉。此道所得，親近不疑而得盡辭也。伊尹爲宰，百里奚爲虜，皆所以干其上也。此二人者，皆聖人也；然猶不能無役身以進，如此其汙也！今以吾言爲宰虜，而可以聽用而振世，此非能仕之所恥也。夫曠日離久，而周澤既渥，深計而不疑，引爭而不罪，則明割利害以致其功，直指是非以飾其身，以此相持，此說之成也。
What persuasion must work at is knowing how to dress up what the one persuaded is proud of and to do away with what he is ashamed of. If he has some private urgency, be sure to show it as public right and so make him firm in it. If his purpose is low and yet he cannot leave off, the persuader dresses up its fair side for him and makes little of his not doing it. If his heart is set high and in fact he cannot reach so far, the persuader raises up its faults for him and shows the bad in it, and thinks well of his not carrying it through. If he wishes to be proud of his wisdom and ability, raise up for him other affairs of the same kind, make the ground broad for him, and let him take the stuff of his talk from me while I feign not to know it, and so help his wisdom along. If you wish to bring in words about keeping one another alive together, be sure to make them clear with a fair name while you let it be seen faintly that they fit his private profit. If you wish to set out an affair of danger and harm, show openly that it will draw slander while you let it be seen faintly that it fits his private worry. Praise another man whose conduct is the same as his; plan another affair whose design is the same as his. If there is one who shares a stain with him, be sure to dress it up grandly as doing no hurt; if there is one who shares a failure with him, be sure to dress it up clearly as losing nothing. If he makes much of his own strength, do not press him down with the hardness of the thing; if he counts his own decisions brave, do not anger him with their wrongs; if he counts his own plans wise, do not corner him with their failures. Only when there is nothing that crosses his larger purpose and nothing in your words that catches on him can you give free rein to your wisdom and your skill in words. What is gained by this road is that you come close and near without being suspected, and can say all you have to say. Yi Yin became a cook and Baili Xi became a slave, and both were seeking the one above them. These two men were both sages, and still they could not come forward without putting their bodies to labor — so foul a thing as this. Now if by my words I were made a cook or a slave, and could thereby be listened to and used and shake the age, this is not a thing an able officer need be ashamed of. When the days have run long and the thick favor is already deep, when you may plan deeply and not be suspected and may argue and contend and not be held guilty, then you make the profit and the harm plainly apart and so bring about his merit, and you point straight at the right and the wrong and so adorn his person. When the two of you hold to each other in this way, this is persuasion brought to its end.
昔者鄭武公欲伐胡，故先以其女妻胡君以娛其意。因問於群臣：「吾欲用兵，誰可伐者？」大夫關其思對曰：「胡可伐。」武公怒而戮之，曰：「胡，兄弟之國也。子言伐之，何也？」胡君聞之，以鄭爲親己，遂不備鄭。鄭人襲胡，取之。宋有富人，天雨墻壞。其子曰：「不築，必將有盜。」其鄰人之父亦云。暮而果大亡其財。其家甚智其子，而疑鄰人之父。此二人說者皆當矣，厚者爲戮，薄者見疑，則非知之難也，處知則難也。故繞朝之言當矣，其爲聖人於晉，而爲戮於秦也，此不可不察。
Long ago Duke Wu of Zheng wished to strike Hu, and so he first married his daughter to the lord of Hu to make his heart glad. Then he asked the host of his ministers, "I wish to use my soldiers. Who is worth striking?" The great officer Guan Qisi answered, "Hu is worth striking." Duke Wu was angry and put him to death, saying, "Hu is a brother state. Why do you speak of striking it?" The lord of Hu heard of this, and holding that Zheng was friendly toward him, he made no preparation against Zheng. The men of Zheng fell upon Hu and took it. In Song there was a rich man, and rain came down from the sky and his wall fell in. His son said, "If it is not built up, thieves will surely come." The old man next door said the same. When evening came he did indeed lose much of his goods. His household held their son very wise and held the old man next door in suspicion. What these two men said both hit the mark, yet the one who went further was put to death and the one who went less far was suspected. So it is not the knowing that is hard; it is what to do with what you know that is hard. Thus what Rao Zhao said hit the mark, yet he was a sage in Jin and was put to death in Qin. This must be looked into.
昔者彌子瑕有寵於衛君。衛國之法：竊駕君車者罪刖。彌子瑕母病，人間往夜告彌子，彌子矯駕君車以出。君聞而賢之，曰：「孝哉！爲母之故，忘其刖罪。」異日，與君遊於果園，食桃而甘，不盡，以其半啗君。君曰：「愛我哉！忘其口味以啗寡人。」及彌子色衰愛㢮，得罪於君，君曰：「是固嘗矯駕吾車，又嘗啗我以餘桃。」故彌子之行未變於初也，而以前之所以見賢而後獲罪者，愛憎之變也。故有愛於主，則智當而加親；有憎於主，則智不當見罪而加䟽。故諫說談論之士，不可不察愛憎之主而後說焉。
Long ago Mi Zixia was loved by the lord of Wei. By the law of Wei, one who drove the lord's carriage without leave was punished by having his feet cut off. When Mi Zixia's mother fell ill, someone went by night to tell Mi Zixia, and Mi Zixia forged an order and drove out in the lord's carriage. The lord heard of it and thought him worthy, saying, "What filial devotion! For his mother's sake he forgot the punishment of having his feet cut off." On another day he was wandering with the lord in an orchard, and he ate a peach and found it sweet; he did not finish it, but gave the half of it to the lord to eat. The lord said, "He loves me! He forgot his own taste and gave it to me to eat." When Mi Zixia's bloom faded and the love loosened, and he was found at fault before the lord, the lord said, "This man did once forge an order and drive my carriage, and he did once give me a half-eaten peach." So Mi Zixia's conduct had not changed from what it was at first, yet what had made him thought worthy before brought him guilt after, because love and hate had changed. Therefore if a man is loved by his ruler, his wisdom hits the mark and he is drawn closer; if he is hated by his ruler, his wisdom does not hit the mark, he is held guilty and he is pushed further off. Therefore the officer who remonstrates and persuades and discourses must look into whether his ruler loves him or hates him, and speak only after that.
夫龍之爲虫也，柔可狎而騎也；然其喉下有逆鱗徑尺，若人有嬰之者，則必殺人。人主亦有逆鱗，說者能無嬰人主之逆鱗，則幾矣。
The dragon is a creature so soft that it can be tamed and ridden. Yet below its throat there are scales a foot across that grow the wrong way, and if a man touches them it is sure to kill him. A ruler too has scales that grow the wrong way. If the persuader can keep from touching the ruler's scales that grow the wrong way, he has nearly come to it.