Tao Te Ching, 29-43

The beginning of 29 sent me immediately back to Ishmael. The line:

Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it?

Made me think of taker culture, where everything must be conquered and made btter, made into taker things, so we may live in comfort. 29 talks baout how the universe is out of our control and the way life is inconsistent, as he says:

Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes easily.

Chapter 30 comes back to the Tao ideal of moderation, which is a recurring theme in the Tao, because it is one of the ways of the sage and essential to the Tao's working structure.

Chapter 31 I thought was very interesting because it has the ideals of peace and disgust towards war and weapons, because they mean death. I was struck by this especially as people are still attempting to reach that peace today, making the chapter completely relevant and valid in today's world.