65

The Stranger did not tell the Dude what to think.

He only offered comfort and confidence.

After all, sometimes you eat the bear,

And sometimes the bear, well, he eats you.

To insist that people’s traditions are just part of their sick Cynthia thing

Only keeps them living in the past.

While becoming privy to the new shit

Helps us perpetuate the whole durn human comedy.

To understand these two scenes—

The Stranger at the bar and Walter in the car—

Is to understand the human comedy.

Understanding the human comedy helps us sympathize with a world of pained,

And help them back in their chair.

Tao Te Ching: 65

In ancient times,

The wise did not try to make people wise.

Instead they employed their wisdom

To sustain the simplicity of the people.

The reason they governed this way

Is because a group cannot be governed

When everyone in it thinks they’re wiser than everyone else.

Complicating a culture can destroy a society,

While simplifying its notions can help it stick together.

He who understands when to use each of these two methods

Understands how to bind elements in a group.

And he who understands how to bind elements in a group

Wields the greatest power in the world—

It is a creative power so far-reaching

That it leads back to the very origin of things.