A saying by Lao Tzu goes: “The greatest kindness is like water. Water benefits all things and does not compete.”
Water is humble. It flows to depths and moves downwards. In the process however, it infiltrates the soil quietly and ever so gently to make the soil rich and the plants grow.
Water is flexible; it is soft yet it can be tough. As Bruce Lee once famously said: “Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” Water does not constrict itself to any shape, form or temperature. It is able to adapt itself to whatever container it finds itself at any point of time, all while staying true to its core identity: water.
Finally, water is romantic. Water fills the world around us in amazing ways, even without us realizing. Look up at the sky and you might notice it floating up high, gazing down at you lovingly in the form of clouds.
“上善若水，水利万物而不争”出自老子《道德经》。水的品性谦卑柔顺坚韧穿石利万物而不争。《艺伎回忆录》里提到传统东方女性似水的品性，柔韧隐忍，默默奉献不求回报。李小龙的女儿写的《be water, my friend》更是把水的品性上升到一个处世哲学高度。
上善若水，谦卑，至柔至刚……
Be water, my friend!～～～
