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The rigid and stiff will be broken. The soft and yielding will overcome. Lao Tzu. Generally, people admire 'strength' and look down on 'weakness.'
老子有言：过刚者易折，善柔者不败。一般来说，人们崇拜“力量”而看不起“柔”。
We associate strength with being firm and energetic. Strength allows us to accomplish things, fight back against adversity, not be swayed by the world around us, and be assertive.
我们将力量与坚定和精力充沛联系在一起。力量使我们能够完成任务，对抗逆境，不受周围世界的影响，并且自信。
It gets us places; we find it attractive and praiseworthy, and thus many aspire to be unbreakable pillars of strength.
它使我们有所成就；我们认为它很有吸引力并且值得称赞，因此许多人渴望成为牢不可破的力量支柱。
We see the praise of strength all around us: we praise muscular bodies, wealthy entrepreneurs showing off their mansions and car collections, and political leaders that use strong language and aren't shy from using military action.
我们看到周围到处都在赞美力量：我们赞美肌肉发达的身体、炫耀豪宅和汽车收藏的富有企业家，以及使用强硬语言并且不回避采取军事行动的政治领袖。
Weakness, on the other hand, we tend to associate with impotence, incompetence, fragility, being pushed around easily, and being powerless.
另一方面，我们倾向于将柔弱与无能、脆弱、易受欺负和无能为力联系在一起。
Weakness gets us nowhere; we find it unappealing and try to avoid it. We often hide our weaknesses; we're ashamed of them.
柔弱不会给我们带来任何好处；我们认为它没有吸引力并试图避免它。我们经常隐藏自己的弱点；我们为它们感到羞耻。
But there's more to weakness than it generally gets credit for. Despite all negative connotations, weakness, at its core, means a lack of strength, which is not necessarily a lack of power.
但软弱的危害比人们通常认为的要大得多。尽管软弱有着种种负面含义，但其核心是缺乏力量，而缺乏力量并不一定就是缺乏权力。
Strength implies being hard and firm; weakness implies being soft and malleable. But being soft and malleable is far from impotent.
力量意味着坚定不移；柔弱意味着柔软易变。但柔软易变绝非无能。
Furthermore, softness (and therefore weakness) has the power to overcome strength, if used in the right ways.
而且，如果使用得当，柔软（因此也意味着软弱）可以战胜力量。
"Weakness is how the Tao works," wrote Taoist sage Lao Tzu. Strength isn't always the answer.
道家圣人老子写道：“弱者道之用。”力量并不总是答案。
In many situations, softness, not strength, weakness, not firmness, is the way to go, and we're better off yielding than fighting, adapting than opposing and submitting than dominating.
在许多情况下，柔软而非力量，软弱而非坚定才是出路，我们最好服软而非战斗，适应而非反对，屈服而非支配。
This video explores the underestimated power of softness through the lens of Taoist philosophy.
本视频通过道家哲学的视角探讨了被低估的柔软力量。
Once upon a time, there was a king who only hired strong and brave men, believing that these men were the most capable of protecting him. Then, a philosopher paid a visit.
从前，有一位国王只雇佣强壮勇敢的人，他认为这些人最有能力保护他。然后，一位哲学家来拜访国王。
He told the king that a better strategy would be one that leads to people not even daring to strike him in the first place. The king agreed.
他告诉国王，更好的策略是让人们一开始就不敢攻击他。国王同意了。
But then, the philosopher argued that despite fear, people could still wish to harm the king, which isn't ideal.
但哲学家认为，尽管人们心存恐惧，但人们仍然可能希望伤害国王，这并不理想。
So, he said, a better strategy would be one that would make people not want to harm him at all. The king nodded.
所以，他说，更好的策略是让人们根本不想伤害他。国王点了点头。
And then the philosopher said: "But just because people do not want to harm you doesn't mean they will respect you or love you.
然后哲学家说：“但仅仅因为人们不想伤害你，并不意味着他们会尊重你或爱戴你。
Suppose you had a strategy that could get them to love you and respect you, so that your concerns are their concerns. Would this strategy be several times better than just strength and courage?" End quote.
假设你有一个策略可以让他们爱你、尊重你，这样你的担忧就是他们的担忧。这个策略会比仅仅依靠力量和勇气好几倍吗？”
The king became very enthusiastic when the philosopher suggested to him to rule with virtue and integrity. He had his military force anyway.
当哲学家建议国王以美德和正直来统治人民时，国王变得非常热情。无论如何，他有军事力量。
So, by being good to the people, he'd become loved and respected rather than feared, and his popularity would surpass that of many sages.
因此，通过善待人民，他将会受到爱戴和尊重，而不是被人畏惧，他的声望将超过许多圣人。
In such a position, the king most likely wouldn't need to hire strong men to defend him with force because very few people would desire to strike him.
在这样的位置上，国王很可能不需要雇佣强人用武力保护他，因为很少有人会想攻击他。
Compare this to the leader who rules using intimidation and fear. Even though he might succeed in protecting himself and his position as a leader, he'd attract constant opposition.
相比之下，使用恐吓和畏惧来统治的领导者，即使他可能成功保护自己及其领导者地位，他也会不断受到反对。
People would hate him and try to strike him, so he needs to increase his strength to protect himself. And so, he's stuck in a vicious cycle.
人们会恨他，并试图攻击他，所以他需要增强实力来保护自己。因此，他陷入了恶性循环。
Such leaders quickly get isolated and far removed from their people because they oppose and oppress the people instead of aligning with them.
这样的领导者很快就会被孤立，远离人民，因为他们反对和压迫人民，而不是与人民结盟。
It's a very exhausting and unsustainable position. Governments ruled by tyrants are rarely durable; they eventually get destroyed from the inside out.
这是一个非常累人且不可持续的立场。暴君统治的政府很少能持久；它们最终会从内到外被摧毁。
Not without reason, Lao Tzu wrote that the worst leader is the one who's despised.
老子写道，最糟糕的领导者是被鄙视的人，这并非毫无道理。
A good leader, on the other hand, puts the people's interests first and is loved by the people. The best leader is hardly visible.
另一方面，一个好的领导者把人民的利益放在首位，深受人民爱戴。最好的领导者几乎是看不见的。
So, it seems that the power of softness wins here. Brute strength may get one so far, but the soft approach may result in not even needing such strength.
因此，似乎柔软的力量在这里占了上风。蛮力可能让人走得更远，但柔和的方式可能会导致甚至不需要这种力量。
The power of softness focuses on prevention, carefully creating circumstances that reduce the likelihood of problems happening instead of focusing on fighting problems that could have been prevented.
柔软的力量侧重于预防，精心创造环境以减少问题发生的可能性，而不是专注于解决本来可以预防的问题。
Lao Tzu stated, and I quote: Take care of difficult problems while they are still easy; Do easy things before they become too hard.
老子有言：合抱之木，生于毫末。九层之台，起于累土。
An animal caretaker named Liang had a way with wild animals like tigers and wolves: he knew how to tame them. In fact, he made them so tame that he could let them roam around in his courtyard.
周宣王之牧正有役人梁鸯者，能养野禽兽，委食于园庭之内。
Liang took an apprentice to pass on his expertise and explained that the secret to taming these animals was understanding their nature.
梁收了一个徒弟来传授他的专业知识，并解释说驯服这些动物的秘诀是了解它们的天性。
One should not force their will on them nor try to rouse their ferocity. The key to success lies in caution and adaptation.
风顺之则喜，逆之则怒，此有血气者之性也。
For example, the caretaker would not feed live animals to tigers, as this would arouse their ferocity.
夫食虎者，不敢以生物与之，为其杀之之怒也。
He would not feed them when they were hungry or full, so they'd be contented when fed.
时其饥饱，达其怒心。
"If they get too happy or excited, they may become angry. You need to keep them in a balanced state, not too happy, and not discontented." said the caretaker.
夫喜之复也必怒，怒之复也常喜，皆不中也。
By doing so, the tigers felt comfortable roaming around in the caretaker's gardens. Liang didn't use force.
这样，老虎在饲养员的花园里漫步时就会感到舒适。梁没有使用武力。
He adapted his approach to the animal's nature, carefully deciding his actions, and it worked.
他根据动物的天性调整自己的方法，谨慎地决定自己的行动，而且很有效。
Would he had forced his way, the tigers would probably have retaliated or left. The soft approach is the intelligent approach.
如果他用武力征服，老虎可能会报复或离开。温和的方法才是聪明的方法。
It doesn't come from a place of anger, impatience, or fear but wisdom. Take, for example, the enormous prison population in the United States.
它不是来自愤怒、不耐烦或恐惧，而是智慧。以美国庞大的监狱人口为例。
