A tree that is unbending, is easily broken.
The willow which bends to the tempest often escapes better than the oak which resists it.
An oak and a reed were arguing about their strength. When a strong wind came up, the reed avoided being uprooted by bending and leaning with the gusts of wind. But the oak stood firm and was torn up by the roots.
Those that yield are not always weak
I want to be like water. I want to slip through fingers, but hold up a ship.
I think glass has so many different forms. Sometimes it comes off as something so breakable and fragile, but it's amazingly strong. It starts as sand, and it takes on different lives, but it is breakable.
He who stands like a pilar dies in battle. He who bends like a reed is triumphant!
The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.
What is strong and rigid is snapped and laid low. What is flexible and soft will always prevail.
That which yields is not always weak.
