Chinese Philosophy Quotes

The natural world gives us many examples of the great effectiveness of this way. The Chinese philosophy of which judo itself is an expression - Taoism - drew attention to the power of water to overcome all obstacles by its gentleness and pliability. It showed how the supple willow survives the tough pine in a snowstorm, for whereas the unyielding branches of the pine accumulate snow until they crack, the springy boughs of the willow bend under its weight, drop the snow, and jump back again. If, when swimming, you are caught in a strong current, it is fatal to resist. You must swim with it and gradually edge to the side. One who falls from a height with stiff limbs will break them, but if he relaxes like a cat he will fall safely. A building without 'give' in its structure will easily collapse in storm or earthquake, and a car without the cushioning of tires and springs will soon come apart on the road. The mind has just the same powers, for it has give and can absorb shocks like water or a cushion. But this giving way to an opposing force is not at all the same thing as running away. A body of water does not run away when you push it; it simply gives at the point of the push and encloses your hand. A shock absorber does not fall down like a bowling-pin when struck; it gives, and yet stays in the same place. To run away is the only defense of something rigid against an overwhelming force. Therefore the good shock absorber has not only 'give,' but also stability or 'weight. ~ Alan W. Watts

The problem is to appreciate differences in the basic premises of thought and in the very methods of thinking, and these are so often overlooked that our interpretations of Chinese philosophy are apt to be a projection of characteristically Western ideas into Chinese terminology. ~ Alan W. Watts

Virtuous people often revenge themselves for the constraints to which they submit by the boredom which they inspire. ~ Confucius

Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure. ~ Confucius

He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it. ~ Confucius

My plan is to open five restaurants based on the five elements in Chinese philosophy: wood, water, fire, earth and metal. ~ Arthur Potts Dawson

The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort. ~ Confucius

According to tradition, the originator of Taoism, Lao-tzu, was an older contemporary of Kung Fu-tzu, or Confucius, who died in 479 B.C.1 Lao-tzu is said to have been the author of the Tao Te Ching, a short book of aphorisms, setting forth the principles of the Tao and its power or virtue (Te e). But traditional Chinese philosophy ascribes both Taoism and Confucianism to a still earlier source, to a work which lies at the very foundation of Chinese thought and culture, dating anywhere from 3000 to 1200 B.C. This is the I Ching, or Book of Changes. ~ Alan W. Watts

To stand on a mountain top, you must first create the mountain. ~ Anthony T. Hincks

At the moment that the Sun is at its highest, it is setting. At the moment that something is born, it is dying. ~ Hui Shi

The faults of a superior person are like the sun and moon. They have their faults, and everyone sees them; they change and everyone looks up to them. ~ Confucius

Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous. ~ Confucius

Walk through the past and learn the way. I am walking through the present, taking action every day. I am preparing for the future in a great way. ~ Debasish Mridha

Your smile is the light of your soul. Don't ever turn it off. ~ Debasish Mridha

He philosophy of Islam will be shown in terms of the modern philosophy, and if there are imperfections in the old ideas then they shall be removed. My task is merely constructive, and in this construction I shall take into consideration the best traditions of Islamic philosophy. ~ Muhammad Iqbal

Do not seek a love that you desire.
True love finds you on its own! ~ Avijeet Das

Feathers filled the small room. Our laughter kept the feathers in the air. I thought about birds. Could they fly is there wasn't someone, somewhere, laughing? ~ Jonathan Safran Foer

The current fast food fuss obscures the reality that such foods are ancient. Fried kibbeh, sausages, olives, nuts, small pizzas, and flat breads have been sold on the streets of Middle Eastern and North African cities for a cycle of centuries; Marco Polo reported barbequed meats, deep-fried delicacies, and even roast lamb for sale in Chinese markets. ~ Kenneth F. Kiple

My heart dances with joy when I think about you. ~ Debasish Mridha

If your vision is great, you become great. ~ Debasish Mridha

Meditation is a wonderful way to shout down the outer noise so that you may pay attention to the universal inner message. ~ Debasish Mridha

For even they who compose treatises of medicine or natural philosophy in verse are denominated Poets: yet Homer and Empedocles have nothing in common except their metre; the former, therefore, justly merits the name of the Poet; while the other should rather be called a Physiologist than a Poet. ~ Aristotle.

The weak can never fall in love because love is an adventure. ~ Debasish Mridha

Life is magical! You are magic! ~ Debasish Mridha

You don't actually want the things or experiences themselves. You want the good feelings associated with the things or experiences. ~ Marchesa Schroeder

The Taoist and Zen conception of perfection ... the dynamic nature of their philosophy laid more stress upon the process through which perfection was sought than upon perfection itself. True beauty could be discovered only by one who mentally completed the incomplete. The virility of life and art lay in its possibilities for growth. ~ Okakura Kakuzo

Don't oversell what or where you are, especially in today's industry. It is easier now than ever to be found out as a big-talking beginner or a liar. On the other hand, honesty is strength; use it. ~ Loren Weisman

Live as if you are the Jesus and learn as if you are the Aristotle. ~ Debasish Mridha

Love is my inner strength and my power. ~ Debasish Mridha

To me, the body says what words cannot. I believe that dance was the first art. ~ Martha Graham

This communal parenting brought me out of the privacy of our foreign enclave and into the public life of the community. Here, parenting was everyone's responsibility; all adults were "aunties" and "uncles". ~ Aminta Arrington

To be rich, don't try to earn money. To grow abundance, never forget to cultivate your mind. ~ Debasish Mridha

the eight main "dialects" of Chinese are so vastly different that they are, under any analysis, separate languages. The ~ John McWhorter

Even if he cannot put his hands on the foreign investment, or receive gifts or bribery, he will explore all means of Chinese hospitality, conferences, shark fun lunch, and foot massages, thus will indulge the high-flyer life of the moment, all on his organization's or the government's bill. Naturally, the Chinese host will want to bring his friends, and lengthen the negotiations. ~ Thorsten J. Pattberg

My truth could be very different than your truth. ~ Debasish Mridha

Always keep open the window of your mind to let in love. ~ Debasish Mridha

You know what music is? God's little reminder that there's something else besides us in this universe; harmonic connection between all living beings, every where, even the stars. ~ Robin Williams

Lady justice, that whore, is rarely always blind, for she can be bought or pressured by power. What good are laws if the pimps who own her can decide who gets to fuck her and for what price? ~ Evann Puskas Tremblay

The associations get only richer and more intense when you realise that the very concept of truth - the cornerstone of philosophy and religion alike, let alone law - also rests heavily on the meaning of waking up. And you don't need a philosopher to appreciate it, because there are clues to its dependency in everyday phrases such as 'waking up to the truth', 'my eyes were opened' and even 'wake up and smell the coffee'. If such phrases hint that waking up and truth are bedfellows of some sort, you need only go back to the ancient Greek for corroboration. There you'll find that the word truth is 'aletheia', from which in English we get the word for 'lethargy'. But see how the Greek word is 'a-letheia' rather than letheia - that is truth is the opposite of lethargy. And what is opposite of lethargy, if not waking up? ~ Robert Rowland Smith

I grew up once, I decided never to do it again ~ Benny Bellamacina

I have a philosophy that everything you write doesn't have to be good for everybody. There are going to be people that get irritated by some of the things I write-including my parents. And then there are going to be people that you draw in because of the pointedness of certain things. ~ Sheryl Crow

Most of us have learned to be dispassionate about evil, to look it in the face and find, as often as not, our own grinning reflections with which we do not argue, but good is another matter. Few have stared at that long enough to accept that its face too is grotesque, that in us the good is something under construction. The modes of evil usually receive worthy expression. The modes of good have to be satisfied with a cliche or a smoothing down that will soften their real look. ~ Flannery O'Connor

If you just technically adhere to the law, sometimes that's enough, sometimes it's not; it's really hard to predict. There is definitely a possibility that the Chinese authorities won't find it sufficient. ~ Rebecca MacKinnon

It is just as little necessary for the saint to be a philosopher as for the philosopher to be a saint; just as it is not necessary for a perfectly beautiful person to be a great sculptor, or for a sculptor to be himself a beautiful person. In general it is a strange demand on a moralist that he should commend no other virtue than that which he himself possesses. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer

I'm afraid I'm a practical man,' said the doctor with gruff humour, 'and I don't bother much about religion and philosophy.'
'You'll never be a practical man till you do,' said Father Brown. 'Look here, doctor; you know me pretty well; I think you know I'm not a bigot. You know I know there are all sorts in all religions; good men in bad ones and bad men in good ones. ~ G.K. Chesterton

I wish for a life with love and never ending dream. ~ Debasish Mridha

Dualism is the closest human feeling, but it is not necessarily the highest human philosophy. On the contrary, all great philosophies have been monistic. Man experiences the world dualistically, but monism is the essence of all human thinking. Philosophy disagrees with dualism. However, this fact does not mean too much, because life, being superior to thought, may not be judged by it. In reality, since we are human beings, we are living two realities. We can deny these two worlds, but we cannot escape from them. Life does not depend too much on our understanding of it. ~ Alija Izetbegovic

Be brave. Be kind. Be simple. Above all, be crazy with love. ~ Debasish Mridha

My belief is that it is most important for an artist to develop an approach and philosophy about life - if he has developed this philosophy, he does not put paint on canvas, he puts himself on canvas. ~ Jacob Lawrence

You find your true self by losing your self. ~ Debasish Mridha

Give with love, give with smile, give freely, it is our duty and responsibility to humanity. ~ Debasish Mridha

Well, Chinese used to be seen as low, right? Working on the railroad, in laundries, and stuff like that. Now they're seen as smart and wealthy. I mean, isn't there the stereotype of the model minority? I read an article for school that said people like us - not you, Dr. Rosen - are now labeled as inquisitive, persistent, and ambitious. With ingenuity, fortitude, and cleverness. ~ Lisa See

Make your habits your beloved home. ~ Debasish Mridha

Never stop learning, when you stop learning, life stops. ~ Debasish Mridha

Purpose without virtue is vanity. ~ Fernando Torres

Particularity leads to peculiarity and then to pathological behavior. The three Ps. It is very insidious. You would eventually end up in a box. If you try to control your environment, it will control you. And everyone else around you will always have to be making adjustments to your maddening idiosyncracies ... You are beginning to enslave yourself with your fussiness. ~ Susan Trott

An educated man believing in a this-that vile sky-god rewarding him-her, but punishing your enemies with hell and fire, is uneducated. ~ Fakeer Ishavardas

The Ice Cream Cone Charm

You Will Never Work A Day Once You Discover A Passion That Makes Your Life Rich & Sweet ~ Viola Shipman