Intelligence of Water

Nothing in the world,
Is as yielding and receptive as water;
Yet in attacking the firm and inflexible,
Nothing triumphs so well.
Because of what it is not,
This becomes easy.
The receptive triumphs over the inflexible;
The yielding triumphs over the rigid.


-Lao Tzu
Tao-te-ching

The Warrior of the Light sometimes behaves like water,
flowing around the obstacles he encounters.

Occasionally, resistance might mean destruction, and so
he adapts to the circumstances. He accepts, without complaint
that the stones in his path hinder his way through the
mountains.

Therein lies the strength of water: It cannot be touched
by a hammer or ripped to shreds by a knife. The strongest
sword in the world cannot scar its surface.

The river adapts itself to whatever route proves possible,
but the river never forgets its one objective: the sea. So
fragile at its source, it gradually gathers the strength of
the other rivers it encounters.

And, after a certain point, its power is absolute.


-Paulo Coelho
from Warrior of the Light