Tao Te Ching 36

To shrink something
   it must first have been expanded.
One can only weaken
  what has first been strengthened.
To lower something
   it must first have been raised.
One can only retract
  what has first been offered.

Seeing this is to understand the fulcrum of change.
What is soft and permeable overcomes what is hard and brittle.
To each life-form it's own environment.
The tools of statecraft are not for the populace.