This brief chapter is an excerpt from Cyrus Shams's manuscript, BOOKOFMARTYRS.docx. Cyrus opens by quoting Michelangelo's claim that sculpting David was simply a matter of chipping away the stone that wasn't David, using this as a metaphor to critique conventional ideas of goodness.

Cyrus argues that the Abrahamic moral framework, with its emphasis on prohibitions (eight of ten commandments being 'thou shalt not'), encourages a passive virtue rooted in abstinence rather than action. He contends this allows the powerful to feel righteous while doing nothing to help others, exemplified by a rich man who feels good simply for not having harmed the homeless.

He then applies this critique to recovery from addiction. Cyrus rejects the popular idea that sobriety is white-knuckled abstinence; for an alcoholic, drinking is not an activity to excise but the entire foundation of life. Getting sober, he writes, requires building a whole new self—relearning how to eat, speak, sit still, and fill twenty-four hours. He compares it to moving into a trashed house and repairing it from within.

Cyrus concludes that recovery is not self-willed abstinence but surrender to a chisel one does not control, where simply remaining standing is miracle enough. He declares he wants to be the chisel, not the David.