Thank you for reading this site. In your moments here, I hope:

Everything here is free. There are no ads, solicitations, or paid memberships. That said, there are ways you can support the site.

Two things you should know:

  1. Affiliate payments. I get affiliate fees when people shop my reading list on bookshop.org. Yes, you could be one of those wise persons who get a useful book in the mail while at the same time supporting an independent bookseller of their choosing.
  2. Your activity is private. No personal information is collected or stored.
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If you sign up for the e-mail newsletter, I can see your e-mail address and your sign-up date, but nothing else. Most e-mail newsletters you sign up for have invasive tracking and “ad tech” crammed into each message sent. I’ve made sure this gunk is all turned off.

The site tagline, “simplicity, patience, compassion”, is a nod to the three treasures of Dao De Jing §67. I try to make my actions reflect these principles.

Simplicity, patience, compassion. 
These three are your greatest treasures. 
Simple in actions and in thoughts, 
you return to the source of being. 
Patient with both friends and enemies, 
you accord with the way things are. 
Compassionate toward yourself, 
you reconcile all beings in the world. 

These words from Stephen Mitchell’s 1991 translation. Currently I’d recommend Ken Liu’s translation and commentary, published 2024.

Liu translates these three as “love, thrift, and never daring to elevate myself.”

Have a topic I should cover or question I should answer? Notice anything wrong or out-of-date? Please e-mail me directly: brian@joechip.net.

Be well, —Brian

P.S. places to start: