76th Verse

A man is born gentle and weak; at his death he is hard and stiff.

All things, including the grass and trees, are soft and pliable in life; dry and brittle in death.

Stiffness is thus a companion of death; flexibility a companion of life.

An army that cannot yield will be defeated. A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind.

The hard and stiff will be broken; the soft and supple will prevail.

–Tao Te Ching. by Lao-tzu (revisited by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer)