All things must yield to the impulse of the water in time

To a river, as to any natural force, an obstruction is merely an opportunity. For the river’s nature is to flow; it is not just spatial in dimension, but temporal as well. All things must yield to the impulse of the water in time, if not today then tomorrow or in a thousand years.

If its way is obstructed then it goes around the obstruction or under it or over it and, flowing past it, wears it away. Men may dam it and say that they have made a lake, but it will still be a river. It will keep its nature and bide its time, like a caged wild animal alert for the slightest opening.

In time it will have its way; the dam like the ancient cliffs will be carried away piecemeal in the currents.

Wendell Berry

I have a thing for rivers, so I like this a lot.