К людям, владеющим тонкостями английского языка

[J.Ch.Fenix]

We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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[Kumin]

В Библии: "Будьте мудры, как змеи и чисты, как голуби"
Тут похожая мысль: Мы должны сочетать живучесть змеи и нежность голубя, стойкий разум и нежное сердце. Мартин Лютер Кинг Мл.

[J.Ch.Fenix]

Kumin,
"the toughness" в контексте "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction….The chain reaction of evil–hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars–must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.
We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart". несет отрицательную окраску. Возможно, библейская формула здесь трансформируется.
toughness - likely to be violent or to contain violence; not kind or pleasant