道德經
《道德經》第七十八章
天下莫柔弱於水，而攻堅強者莫之能勝，其無以易之。
弱之勝強，柔之勝剛，天下莫不知，莫能行。
是以聖人云：受國之垢，是謂社稷主；受國不祥，是謂天下王。
正言若反。
Dao De Jing Chapter Seventy-eight ― C. Ganson
78
Nothing in the world is weaker
or more yielding than water.
Yet nothing is its equal
in wearing away the hard and strong.
There is nothing quite like it.
Thus the weak can overpower the strong;
the flexible can overcome the rigid.
The whole world can perceive this,
but does not put it into practice.
And so the truly wise say:
Whoever bears the shame of the nation
is fit to lead the nation.
Whoever bears the sins of the world
is fit to lead the world.
Straight words (truth)
can seem crooked (paradoxical).
Dao De Jing Chapter Seventy-eight ― James Legge
78 (Things to be believed)
There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water, and yet for attacking things that are firm and strong there is nothing that can take precedence of it;
— for there is nothing (so effectual) for which it can be changed.
Everyone in the world knows that the soft overcomes the hard, and the weak the strong,
but no one is able to carry it out in practice.
Therefore a sage has said,
'He who accepts his state's reproach,
Is hailed, therefore, its altars' lord;
To him who bears men's direful woes
They all the name of King accord.'
Words that are strictly true seem to be paradoxical.
Dao De Jing Chapter Seventy-eight ― Arthur Waley
78
Nothing under heaven is softer or more yielding than water;
But when it attacks things hard and resistant there is not one of them that can prevail.
For they can find no way of altering it.
That the yielding conquers the resistant
And the soft conquers the hard is a fact known by all men,
Yet utilized by none.
Yet it is in reference to this that the Sage said
“Only he who has accepted the dirt of the country can be lord of its soil shrines;
Only he who takes upon himself the evils of the country
Can become a king among those who dwell under heaven.”
Straight words seem crooked.
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