第七十六章  柔生强死

人之生也柔弱，其死也坚强。 万物草木之生也柔脆，其死也枯槁。
故坚强者死之徒，柔弱者生之徒。 是以兵强则不胜，木强则折。
强大处下，柔弱处上。

 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.

 [译文]

人活着的时候身体是柔软的，死后身体是僵硬的。草木生长的时候是柔嫩的，死后就变得硬脆枯槁了。所以说逞强霸迈向败亡，柔顺和谐才是迈向生机盎然。兵器和军队强大就穷兵黩武，最终走向灭亡。树木强大，就会被人砍伐使用。