The key points covered in the text are that Rust's address-of operator (&) is not useful for creating self-referential pointers due to objects moving around, and instead using "handles" (information about where to find an object without storing a pointer directly) can be more effective. Another important point is that refcounts (like Arc<T>) can help resolve issues with lifetime and borrow checker limitations by providing a way to introduce mutable references while still maintaining safety guarantees. Additionally, the text advises against using interior mutability in certain situations, instead suggesting that promoting new state to be current (and having consumers hold onto the old state) can be a better approach to manage shared data between threads. Overall, these patterns are recommended for avoiding common pitfalls and making Rust development more efficient and safe.