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Apply the weak maximum principle for elliptic operators to $q=|Dw{|}^2$. The product rule and the equation for the harmonic function giveThe function $q$ is twice differentiable inside and continuous on the closure, by the prescribed regularity. Hence ${\sup }_{\Omega }q\le {\sup }_{\partial \Omega }q$. Conversely, each boundary value of $q$ is a limit of values at interior points, so the reverse inequality holds for the suprema. Taking square roots proves the gradient maximum principle for harmonic functions:This argument controls the length of the entire gradient, without comparing its separate components.