Chapter 23 Summary

Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.

  • Don't talk so much, people—at least that's what the TTC thinks.
  • It's better to use fewer words that say a lot rather than a lot of words that say nothing.
  • We can find an example of this in nature with the wind and the rain—neither of which lasts very long.
  • So let's all be a little more like the wind and rain; let's do our thing in short bursts that pack a real punch.
  • The next chunk of this chapter gives us a lesson on how we become whatever we set our minds on.
  • If we focus on the Tao, we're with the Tao.
  • If we focus on virtue, then virtue is with us.
  • If we focus on loss, then all we are is loss.
  • If we live our lives distrusting everybody, then nobody will trust us.