第七十六章  柔生強死

人之生也柔弱，其死也堅強。 萬物草木之生也柔脆，其死也枯槁。
故堅強者死之徒，柔弱者生之徒。 是以兵強則不勝，木強則折。
強大處下，柔弱處上。

 The Soft Life and Stiff Death

When man is born, he istender and weak; At death, he is hard and stiff.

All things, the grass as wellas the trees, are tender and supple while alive. When dead, they are witheredand dried.

THence,the hard and rigid belongs to the company of the dead: The soft and supplebelongs to the company of the living.

Therefore when an army is headstrong, it will lose in a battle.When a tree is strong enough, it is ready for the axe.

The hard and strong will fall. The tender and supple will rise.

 [譯文]

人活著的時候身體是柔軟的，死后身體是僵硬的。草木生長的時候是柔嫩的，死后就變得硬脆枯槁了。所以說逞強霸邁向敗亡，柔順和諧才是邁向生機盎然。兵器和軍隊強大就窮兵黷武，最終走向滅亡。樹木強大，就會被人砍伐使用。