If you stand on tiptoe, you cannot stand firmly.

[Starr]

Verse 24:

If you stand on tiptoe, you cannot stand firmly.
If you take long steps, you cannot walk far.

Showing off does not reveal enlightenment.
Boasting will not produce accomplishment.
He who is self-righteous is not respected.
He who brags will not endure.

All these ways of acting are odious, distateful.
They are superfluous excesses.
They are like a pain in the stomach,
a tumor in the body.

When walking the path to Tao,
this is the very stuff that must be
uprooted, thrown out and left behind.

[Peni]

Look at me! Notice Me! In light of the "white house party crashers," "balloon boy," and anyone who has to feed their ego with pubicity, this verse is for you.
Stay humble, stay quiet. Don't do good things for noteriety. Fame and publicity are not things to aspire to.

[Starr]

For me this verse also speaks about grounding oneself. For the past six months or so I have been participating in a regular yoga class meant to help establish a routine practice. Much of what I do in yoga helps center me and ground me by making me more aware of my body, my thoughts and my actions. Through this practice I've seen where the "pain in the stomach" or "tumor in the body" have begun to form. I can't rip these "odious, distasteful" things out of me, but I can slowly adjust the thinking that helped form them.

[Peni]

Yes, grounding. I see that, Starr. I commend you on your yoga. I am SO out of shape and have considered Qi Gong or Tai Chi; have to look into them. I think exercise that works your body, mind and spirit is the way to go!