"Better bend than break" nghĩa là gì?

"Better bend than break" = cong còn hơn gãy -> nghĩa là mềm dẻo linh hoạt để tồn tại còn hơn là từ bỏ hoàn toàn, thà nhượng bộ một chút, cúi mình một chút chứ đừng để bị đánh bại.

Ví dụ

Bridges, by design, sway under the weight of heavy vehicles, built on the principle that it is better to bend than break. Bridges built with rigid (cứng) materials are often less resilient (đàn hồi) than their more flexible counterparts.

Cities are flexible entities (thực thể linh hoạt) that bend rather than break and their adaptive capacities (năng lực thích ứng) are what citizens, governments or community institutions need to build to help cities be more resilient (kiên cường) against disruptions such as Covid-19. 

“Better bend than break” is a proverb that transcends (vượt qua) languages and cultures. It comes from the story about the reeds (cây lau sậy) that bend in the wind to withstand (chống lại) a hurricane that fells a mighty oak. Their flexibility means they are likely to survive no matter how hard the storm.

Compromise (thỏa hiệp) means balancing the scales: If we go to your home for the holidays this year, we will go to mine the next. When two mature people can bend and flex in this way, they may not agree on everything, but they keep their marriage strong. As a Scottish proverb says, “Better bend than break."

Bài trước: "At your discretion" nghĩa là gì?