The purpose of the salt in the steak is to do its work so quietly that it changes the nature of what it invades without calling attention to itself. Salt must get into something in order to have effect, where it indelibly stamps its own character upon what it invades.
I push every day against forces that say you have to go faster, be more effective, be more productive, you have to constantly outdo yourself, you have to constantly outdo your neighbor - all of the stuff that creates an incredibly productive society, but also a very neurotic one.