We suggest you turn to the Tao Teh Ching:
78 Nothing in the world is softer than water, Yet nothing is better at overcoming the hard and strong. This is because nothing can alter it. That the soft overcomes the hard And the gentle overcomes the aggressive Is something that everybody knows But none can do themselves. Therefore the sages say: "The one who accepts the dirt of the state Becomes its master. The one who accepts its calamity Becomes king of the world. Truth seems contradictory. -- tr. C. Muller