上句见：Day140
The Story of Philosophy的第141句：第1章Plato第2节II. Socrates第10段第1句：

But if the government itself is a chaos and an absurdity, if it rules without helping, and commands without leading, — how can we persuade the individual, in such a state, to obey the laws and confine his self-seeking within the circle of the total good? No wonder an Alcibiades turns against a state that distrusts ability, and reverences number more than knowledge. No wonder there is chaos where there is no thought, and the crowd decides in haste and ignorance, to repent at leisure and in desolation. Is it not a base superstition that mere numbers will give wisdom? On the contrary is it not universally seen that men in crowds are more foolish and more violent and more cruel than men separate and alone? Is it not shameful that men should be ruled by orators, who "go ringing on in long harangues, like brazen pots which, when stuck, continue to sound till a hand is put upon them"?3 Surely the management of a state is a matter for which men cannot be too intelligent, a matter that needs the unhindered thought of the finest minds. How can a society be saved, or be strong, except it be led by its wisest men?
3:Plato's Protagoras, sect, 329
浙江大学译本：但如果政府本身就杂乱不堪、荒谬至极，如果它统治却不救助、施令却不引导，那么，我们如何能够劝服个体遵守法律并为实现公共利益而限制其自身的追求呢？

解析

这句主要讲政府与个体的关系。“上行下效”“身教言传”这种个人与个人的关系也是可以用到政府与个人的关系。只有政府治理得和平、有秩序等，个人才愿意牺牲些自由来助力政府。类似中国东晋乱世，玄学开始兴盛，也是类似的道理。
1、But if the government itself is a chaos and an absurdity,
不合格政府：本身乱且荒谬。

2、if it rules without helping, and commands without leading,
不合格政府：统而不助，令而不领。

3、how can we persuade the individual, in such a state, to obey the laws and confine his self-seeking within the circle of the total good?
诘问：在这样的政府管理下，我们又如何能说服个体遵守法律并为实现全部的善来限制自身追求。

如果政府本身乱又荒谬，如果它统而不助，令而不领；在这样的政府下，我们又如何能说服个体遵守法律并为实现全部的善来限制自身追求。