道德經78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。
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現代漢語說:
天下沒有比水更柔弱的東西。
與強和硬的東西相擊,沒有東西比水更好。沒有東西能替代水。
弱者勝強者,軟者勝硬者。這道理天下沒有不知道的,只是沒能赴之實踐。
因而,聖人說,能接受國人批評責備的人,能當社會的領導。能受命於國難之至的人,能夠當天下的王。
正確的話語,常常表達起來剛好相反。
There is nothing in the world softer
or weaker than water.
To hit hard and strong things, nothing
can be better than water.
Nothing can replace water.
The weaker wins the stronger, the
softer win the harder. This is the rule that no one does not know, however, no
one really carry it out in practice.
Therefore, the sage said, the person
who can accept the criticizing from the state people, he can be the lead of the
communities; the person who can take charges of the state in difficult time, he
can be the king of the lands.