De Dao Jing || rendered by Douglas Allchin

What one would reduce

first stretch to its limit.
What one would weaken,

first consolidate.
What one would cast down,

first elevate.
What one would seize,

first forsake.
Such is subtle insight.

To the flexible and yielding
the hard and strong give way.

No more than a fish out of water
should one see a ruler's hand at work.