Chapter 78 · Water's Hidden Strength

Tao Te Ching (Legge, 1891) · chapter title added by Learn the Dao

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The chapter’s first line

There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water,

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This chapter in plain modern English — David Kooi’s rendering ↓

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. Every one 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.

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Chapter 78, in a second rendering

Nothing Softer Than Water

Dao De Kooi — an original rendering by David Kooi

Nothing in the world is softer than water, and nothing beats it for wearing down the hard and strong. There's just no swapping it out. Soft beats hard, gentle beats forceful - everybody knows it, nobody lives it. So the steady hand says: the one who takes on the country's mess is the one fit to run it, and the one who takes on its disasters is the one fit to lead. True things have a way of sounding backwards.

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