Mortal existence is an enigma. Every day is a mystery.
Restlessness is discontent, and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.
I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.
Hell, there are no rules here—we’re trying to accomplish something.
Keep on the lookout for novel ideas that others have used successfully. Your idea has to be original only in its adaptation to the problem you’re working on.
There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking.
I find my greatest pleasure, and so my reward, in the work that precedes what the world calls success.
He has his own brain—he can solve his own problems.
The culture of the individual is always, in my view, unjustified. It strikes me as unfair, and even in bad taste, to select a few for boundless admiration, attributing superhuman powers of mind and character to them. This has been my fate and the contrast between the popular estimate of my powers and achievements and the reality is simply grotesque.
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful, and then only for a short while.
The main object of learning is to… discipline ourselves and thus become true men.
… [Let us] continue learning and be true men as long as we can breathe.
tao is extensive and the principles of rightness are subtle, and not easy to explore or fully comprehend.
Even brilliant individuals cannot do so by by their own individual talents.
We should not blindly regard all we has heard as true, reject what others say merely because they disagree, or be stubborn and refuse to admit mistakes.
Sincerity is the mind of the kami [gods]… if one has a mind of sincerity, the kami will surely respond. (Divine Injunctions)
If people could be reborn in in this world, even if they were negligent this time and did not know the human Way, they could rely on being born next time as a human.
But since we cannot be reborn, we ought to live as a human being by learning tao and morally cultivating ourselves.
We should not carelessly waste our time.
If we do not know the Human Way and if we live aimlessly, it is of no avail to have been born as a human.
This is lamentable.
Study is for the sake of knowing tao. Studying poorly and not knowing tao is the same as not having studied.
Furthermore, knowing tao is for the sake of practicing it. Studying and knowing tao without practicing it is the same as not having learned it.
If we lack a will to know tao, if we have poor teachers, and if our path of scholarship is wrong, we will lack results even we make an effort throughout our lives and study diligently.
Even the ancient Sages were instructed by their teachers—so how much more so should ordinary people nowadays.
In the History, it says, “If we trifle with things we will lose our aim.”
Trifling with things means that we distort the mind/heart by pampering the sense, indulging the desires, being fond of extraneous things, or becoming overly fond of various useless skills.
If we become enamored by extraneous things, we will lose the great goal of becoming a superior person by studying tao.
Humankind cannot stand very much reality.
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
To the body and mind which have been cramped by noxious work or company, nature is medicinal and restores their tone. The tradesman, the attorney comes out of the din and craft of the street, and sees the sky and wood, and is a man again. In their eternal calm, he finds himself. (“Nature”)
To be great is to be misunderstood.
Peace cannot be achieved through violence; it can only be attained through understanding.
Undertake no more than you can perform.
Do not climb the hill until you get to it.
The measure of our own sacrifice is the measure of our love.
Too much familiarity breeds contempt.
Pride goes before; shame follows after.
Prosperous men seldom mend their faults.
He gains a good deal who loses a vain hope.
Set a thief to catch a thief.
Some are atheists only in fair Wwather.
Strike while the iron is hot.
Better to be safe than sorry.
My mind to me is a kingdom.
Actions speak louder than words.
A good example is the best sermon.
Some are very busy and yet do nothing.
Some have been thought brave because they were afraid to run away.
Half the world does not know how the other half lives.
He that is warm thinks all are so.
Success makes a fool seem wise.
A change is as good as a rest.
If he deceives me once, shame on him; if he deceives me twice, shame on me.
An artist lives everywhere.
In a calm sea, every man is a pilot.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
A stitch in time saves nine.
Creditors have better memories than debtors.
Do not triumph before the victory.
You never miss the water till the well runs dry.
Buy in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest.
A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
Cursing the weather is never good farming.
No man is free who is not master of himself.
It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is.
We are so vain that we even care for the opinion of those we don’t care for.
Nothing is so often irrevocably neglected as an opportunity of daily occurrence.
The work will teach you how to do it.
Advise and counsel him; if he does not listen, let adversity teach him.
A close friend can become a close enemy.
The fool is thirsty in the midst of water.
When the hyena is gone, the dog barks.
The same man cannot be well skilled in everything. Each has his own special excellence.
When great the theme, ‘tis easy to excel.
Now there are some people out there that ain’t nothing but animals. And they make you fight them to survive. And if you don’t fight them, they just keep picking at you and picking at you until you ain’t got nothing left.
And God said to Moses, “I Am What I Am”…
… He did it with all his heart, and prospered.