From which classic text is the line "To yield and to preserve whole" taken?

From which classic text is the line "To yield and to preserve whole" taken?

• A. Dao De Ching
• B. The Analects
• C. The Bhagavad Gita
• D. The Iliad

Answer: (A)

The line embodies a key Daoist idea: true strength often shows up as yielding or softness rather than forcing things. In Daoist thought, especially in the Dao De Ching, yielding is a way to stay whole and in harmony with the Way. Images like water bending around obstacles illustrate how flexibility and non-contention can preserve the larger balance, even in challenging situations. That paradox—to yield in order to preserve the whole—is a hallmark of Dao De Ching’s philosophy and its praise of wu wei, or effortless action. The other texts center on different themes—ethical conduct and social harmony in one, duty and action in another, heroic prowess in the last—so they don’t foreground this specific idea as directly.

The line embodies a key Daoist idea: true strength often shows up as yielding or softness rather than forcing things. In Daoist thought, especially in the Dao De Ching, yielding is a way to stay whole and in harmony with the Way. Images like water bending around obstacles illustrate how flexibility and non-contention can preserve the larger balance, even in challenging situations. That paradox—to yield in order to preserve the whole—is a hallmark of Dao De Ching’s philosophy and its praise of wu wei, or effortless action. The other texts center on different themes—ethical conduct and social harmony in one, duty and action in another, heroic prowess in the last—so they don’t foreground this specific idea as directly.