」太公曰：「舉賢而不用，是有舉賢之名，而不得真賢之實也。
“It arises owing to a ruler’s fondness for using people of only modest gifts and his failure to obtain the truly talented.” “Why are rulers fond of using people whose gifts are only modest?” asked King Wu.
」武王曰：「其失安在？
“Because they are fond of listening to praise and do not hate flattery.
」太公望曰：「其失在君好用小善，而己不得真賢也。
They mistake denunciations of the worthy for worthiness, denunciations of the good for goodness, denunciations of the loyal for loyalty, and denunciations of the trustworthy for trustworthiness.
」武王曰：「好用小善者何如？
Such rulers mistake praise of themselves for meritorious accomplishment and criticism of themselves for wrongdoing.
」太公曰：「君好聽譽而不惡讒也，以非賢為賢，以非善為善，以非忠為忠，以非信為信。
They fail to reward those who have made contributions and fail to punish those guilty of misdeeds.
其君以譽為功，以毀為罪，有功者不賞，有罪者不罰，多黨者進，少黨者退；是以群臣比周而蔽賢，百吏群黨而多姦，忠臣以誹死於無罪，邪臣以譽賞於無功，其國見於危亡。
They advance those who promote factions and demote those who hold factions in disdain. The result is that the officers all band together to keep the worthy in concealment, and the various functionaries form alliances to heap praises on the disloyal; loyal officers die unjustly owing to slander, and wicked ones enjoy unearned rewards due to flattery.
」武王曰：「善。
Then the state cannot but perish.” “Finely said,” observed King Wu.
吾今日聞誹譽之情矣。」
“Today I have heard the nature of slander and flattery explained.