Chapter 50 Summary

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

  • Rhinos, tigers, and soldiers... oh, my!
  • This chapter represents the dangers in life with rhinos, tigers, and soldiers, and it points out ways to avoid them.
  • If we're overly cautious, we never truly live.
  • If we're too bold, we're just begging to die.
  • And if we live with excess, overindulging in everything, those rhinos, tigers, and soldiers are going to have us in no time.
  • If we live with the Tao, however, and practice moderation, the bad things in life will have a much harder time taking hold of us.