Chapter 77
In all the world, nothing is softer or weaker than water, yet in attacking the hard and strong, nothing can surpass it, for there is nothing that can replace it.
The weak overcomes the strong, the soft overcomes the hard - in all the world, no one fails to understand this, yet no one is able to put it into practice.
Therefore the sage says: One who accepts the filth of the nation - this is called the lord of the soil and grain altars; one who accepts the misfortunes of the nation - this is called the king of all under heaven.
True words seem paradoxical.