The Quotes canon
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Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Letting go5 quotes
One loses joy and happiness in the attempt to possess them. — Masanobu Fukuoka · 1975If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCLet people hold on to these:
Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCSeekers of the Way. In Buddhism no effort is necessary. All one has to do is to do nothing except to move his bowels, urinate, put on his clothing, eat his meals, and lie down if he is tired. The stupid will laugh at him, but the wise will understand. — Linji Yixuan · 886Those who are contented and at ease when the occasion comes and live in accord with the course of Nature cannot be affected by sorrow or joy. This is what the ancients called release from bondage. Those who cannot release themselves are so because they are bound by material things. — Zhuang Zhou · 221 BCOpen-mindedness4 quotes
For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them. — Thich Nhat Hanh · 1987A mind full of preconceived ideas, subjective intentions, or habits is not open to things as they are. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970Acceptance3 quotes
For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them. — Thich Nhat Hanh · 1987A mind full of preconceived ideas, subjective intentions, or habits is not open to things as they are. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970Art3 quotes
To be an artist means never to avert one's eyes. — Akira KurosawaThere are Six Essentials in painting. The first is called spirit; the second, rhythm; the third, thought; the fourth, scenery; the fifth, the brush; and the last is the ink. — Jing Hao · 925I want to make work so people can be moved by a sense of the possible. — Zhang Huan · 2000Nature3 quotes
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCNo snowflake ever falls in the wrong place. — Yuanwu Keqin · 1125Does Heaven say anything? The four seasons run their course and all things are produced. Does Heaven say anything? — Confucius · 221 BCNuclear weapons3 quotes
The enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization. Such being the case, how are we to save the millions of our subjects, or to atone ourselves before the hallowed spirits of our imperial ancestors?... It is according to the dictate of time and fate that we have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unavoidable and suffering what is insufferable. — Emperor Hirohito · 1945The war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage. — Emperor Hirohito · 1945The atom bomb is a paper tiger which the United States reactionaries use to scare people. It looks terrible, but in fact it isn't... All reactionaries are paper tigers. — Mao Zedong · 1946Patience3 quotes
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCNature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCDo you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear? — Lao Tzu · 400 BCPeople are basically good3 quotes
The tendency of man's nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards. — Mencius · 300 BCBenevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge are not infused into us from without. — Mencius · 300 BCAll men have in themselves that which is truly honorable. Only they do not think of it. — Mencius · 300 BCPolitical theory3 quotes
Every Communist must grasp the truth: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." — Mao Zedong · 1938The root of the kingdom is the state. The root of the state is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its head. — Mencius · 300 BCThe people turn to a benevolent rule as water flows downwards, and as wild beasts fly to the wilderness. — Mencius · 300 BCPolitics3 quotes
Every Communist must grasp the truth: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." — Mao Zedong · 1938Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed. — Mao Zedong · 1938The test of civilization is in the way that it cares for its helpless members. — Pearl S. Buck · 1954Self-improvement3 quotes
Is Goodness indeed so far away? If we really wanted Goodness, we should find that it was at our very side. — Confucius · 221 BCIn the presence of a good man, think all the time how you may learn to equal him. In the presence of a bad man, turn your gaze within. — Confucius · 221 BCTo pursue it is to be human, to give it up is to be a beast. — Xunxi · 250 BCWar3 quotes
The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities... It is best to win without fighting. — Sun Tzu · 490 BCPolitics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed. — Mao Zedong · 1938If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever. — Yamamoto Tsunetomo · 1716World War II3 quotes
The enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization. Such being the case, how are we to save the millions of our subjects, or to atone ourselves before the hallowed spirits of our imperial ancestors?... It is according to the dictate of time and fate that we have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unavoidable and suffering what is insufferable. — Emperor Hirohito · 1945The war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage. — Emperor Hirohito · 1945It is a terrible shame for me-I came back, still alive, without having won the war. — Shoichi Yokoi · 1997Attachment (Buddhism)2 quotes
Even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray. — Jianzhi Sengcan · 606Those who are contented and at ease when the occasion comes and live in accord with the course of Nature cannot be affected by sorrow or joy. This is what the ancients called release from bondage. Those who cannot release themselves are so because they are bound by material things. — Zhuang Zhou · 221 BCBusiness2 quotes
If you hire only those people whom you understand, the company will never get better people than you are. — Soichiro Honda · 1982A company will get nowhere if all of the thinking is left to management. — Akio Morita · 1986Clean slate2 quotes
The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970Doing less2 quotes
Let people hold on to these:
Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCThe pursuit of learning is to increase day after day.
The pursuit of Tao is to decrease day after day.
It is to decrease and further decrease until one reaches the point of taking no action.
No action is undertaken, and yet nothing is left undone. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCEquality in friendship2 quotes
Have no friends who are not of equal (moral) caliber. — Confucius · 221 BCFriendship with a man is friendship with his virtue, and does not admit of assumptions of superiority. — Mencius · 300 BCFriendship2 quotes
Have no friends who are not of equal (moral) caliber. — Confucius · 221 BCFriendship with a man is friendship with his virtue, and does not admit of assumptions of superiority. — Mencius · 300 BCHuman nature2 quotes
The tendency of man's nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards. — Mencius · 300 BCBenevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge are not infused into us from without. — Mencius · 300 BCIgnorance2 quotes
He who knows does not speak.
He who speaks does not know. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCAll men have in themselves that which is truly honorable. Only they do not think of it. — Mencius · 300 BCInterconnectedness of all things2 quotes
The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass. — Dogen · 1253The universe and I exist together, and all things and I are one. — Zhuang Zhou · 221 BCManagement2 quotes
If you hire only those people whom you understand, the company will never get better people than you are. — Soichiro Honda · 1982A company will get nowhere if all of the thinking is left to management. — Akio Morita · 1986Military strategy2 quotes
Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate. — Sun Tzu · 490 BCTo fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. — Sun Tzu · 500 BCPainting2 quotes
Resemblance reproduces the formal aspect of objects, but neglects their spirit; truth shows the spirit and substance in like perfection. — Jing Hao · 925There are Six Essentials in painting. The first is called spirit; the second, rhythm; the third, thought; the fourth, scenery; the fifth, the brush; and the last is the ink. — Jing Hao · 925Personal growth2 quotes
Is Goodness indeed so far away? If we really wanted Goodness, we should find that it was at our very side. — Confucius · 221 BCThough bitter, good medicine cures illness. Though it may hurt, loyal criticism will have beneficial effects. — Sima Qian · 109 BCPossibility2 quotes
The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970Reading2 quotes
I have done my plowing:
I have sown my seed.
Again I have time to sit and read my books. — Tao Yuanming · 427The pleasantest of all diversions is to sit alone under the lamp, a book spread out before you, and to make friends with people of a distant past you have never known. — Yoshida Kenko · 1332Revolution2 quotes
A revolution is not the same as inviting people to dinner, or writing an essay, or painting a picture... A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another. — Mao Zedong · 1927Liberalism is extremely harmful in a revolutionary collective. It is corrosive which eats away unity, undermines cohesion, causes apathy, and creates dissension. — Mao Zedong · 1937Seeking2 quotes
Even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray. — Jianzhi Sengcan · 606One loses joy and happiness in the attempt to possess them. — Masanobu Fukuoka · 1975