In this world, there is nothing softer or thinner than water. But to compel the hard and unyielding, it has no equal. That the weak overcomes the strong, that the hard gives way to the gentle - this everyone knows. Yet no one asks accordingly.
The sage regards things as difficult, and thereby avoids difficulty.
To see things in the seed, that is genius.
In lightness the root is lost. In haste the ruler is lost.
Yielding is the manner of the Way.
A great country needs more people to serve it. A small country needs more people to serve. So, if both shall get what they need, the great country ought to yield.