chapter 78: The Action of Water

(or: You’re Doin’ a Heckuva Job, Brownie!)

Nothing in the world is softer and weaker than water,
but there is nothing like it for attacking the hard and strong:
this is because nothing can take its place.

That water eats stone, that the soft defeats the hard:
this is something nobody in the world does not know,
but nobody seems to put it into practice, either.

Therefore, the Consultant says:
only he who truly accepts blame is a worthy executive;
only he who takes on disaster is a true leader.

Well, great truths can sound perverse.

 

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chapter notes:

This translation is fairly straightforward — though, again, the chapter title chooses a particularly relevant modern example.