Be Soft Like Water: A Poem

Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it.

The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice.

Therefore the Master remains serene in the midst of sorrow. Evil cannot enter his heart. 
Because he has given up helping, he is people's greatest help.

True words seem paradoxical.

Tao Te Ching: Chapter 78
(Lao Tzu, approx. 500BC)
(Interpreted by Stephen Mitchell, 1988)