Zen Quotes

1. "Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes."
Author: Alan Watts

2. "When service is unto people, the bones can grow weary, the frustration deep. Because, agrees Dorothy Sayers, 'whenever man is made the centre of things, he becomes the storm-centre of trouble. The moment you think of serving people, you begin to have a notion that other people owe you something for your pains... You will begin to bargain for reward, to angle for applause.'When the laundry is for the dozen arms of children or the dozen legs, it's true, I think I'm due some appreciation. So comes a storm of trouble and lightning strikes joy. But when Christ is center, when dishes, laundry, work, is my song of thanks to Him, joy rains. Passionately serving Christ alone makes us the loving servant to all. When the eyes of the heart focus on God, and the hands on always washing the feet of Jesus alone - the bones, they sing joy, and the work returns to it's purest state: eucharisteo. The work becomes worship, a liturgy of thankfulness."
Author: Ann Voskamp

3. "As both a local resident and a parent with a CF-afflicted child, I'm thankful for companies like Canon, Chase and Outback who believe that giving back to the community is critical to their role as corporate citizens."
Author: Boomer Esiason

4. "[M]an has been accustomed, ever since he was a boy, to having a dozen incompatible philosophies dancing about together inside his head. He doesn't think of doctrines as primarily "true" or "false," but as "academic" or "practical," "outworn" or "contemporary," "conventional" or "ruthless." Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church. Don't waste time trying to make him think that materialism is true! Make him think it is strong or stark or courageous—that it is the philosophy of the future. That's the sort of thing he cares about."
Author: C.S. Lewis

5. "Saving the world requires saving democracy. That requires well-informed citizens. Conservation, environment, poverty, community, education, family, health, economy- these combine to make one quest: liberty and justice for all. Whether one's special emphasis is global warming or child welfare, the cause is the same cause. And justice comes from the same place being human comes from: compassion."
Author: Carl Safina

6. "Like a Zen master, she reduced to the essences: I do not need to walk around the Museum of Fine Arts; I do not need to be pushed around the MFA in the chair; I do not need the MFA at all, because its treasures, as I love them, are imprinted in my memory; and if they are wrongly memorized-a lily where there are tulips, the boy's torn hat rakish at the wrong angle-then this only makes the pictures the more mine."
Author: Claire Messud

7. "Strengthening our identity is one way of reinforcing people's confidence and sense of citizenship and well-being."
Author: David Blunkett

8. "By this time, half the people in High Norland were gathered in Royal Square to stare at the castle. They all watched with disbelief as the castle rose slightly into the air and glided toward the road that led southward. It was hardly more than an alley, really. "It'll never fit!" people said. But the castle somehow squeezed itself narrow enough to drift away along it and out of sight. The citizens of High Norland gave it a cheer as it went."
Author: Diana Wynne Jones

9. "I think it's easier than ever to hear only what you want to hear. That doesn't make a good citizen."
Author: Eli Pariser

10. "Flo hated how public an event affection inevitably became. Marrying in a church while scrutinized by dozens of people struck her as a barbaric custom."
Author: Enid Shomer

11. "There were other words at the back of his throat, words that a normal person would have said, about not wanting to crush her hope, about not wanting to pull her into this life. They remained there, frozen, each one a tiny insect trapped inside amber, testimony to the fact that once upon a time he might have been the kind of person to say words like those."
Author: Frankie Rose

12. "Man muß noch Kaos in sich haben um einen tanzenden Stern gebären zu können"
Author: Friedrich Nietzsche

13. "És Brahmá, a Teremto, felso ruháját fél vállán átvetve, összetett kézzel meghajolt a Magasztos felé, és így szólította meg a Magasztost:- Uraim, a Magasztosnak hirdetnie kell a Tant! A Megvilágosultnak hirdetnie kell a Tant! Vannak lények, akiknek lelki szemeit alig fedi por, de ha nem hallják a Tant, akkor nem érik el a megváltást. Ezek meg fogják érteni a Tant.Így beszélt Brahmá, a Teremto, majd így folytatta:Magadha földjén ezelott a tiszta Tantgyarló személyek tanították tévesen.Halhatatlanság kapuját te tárd ki most!Hallják világosan a tiszta, szent igét!Ki hegytetore, fel a sziklabércre jut,fentrol körülnéz az alanti tájakon.Te mindent-látó, te is így tekints aláaz igazság várfokáról a szenvedo,szakadatlanul születo-kiszenvedolényekre, mert te legyozted a szenvedést.Kelj fel, te nagy csata vitézi gyoztese!Járd a világot, seregek vezére!Tanítsd a Tant, magasztos Szent!Lesznek, akik megértenek."
Author: Gautama Buddha

14. "The ruby at Melisandre's throat gleamed red. "It is not those foes who curse you to your face that you must fear, but those who smile when you are looking and sharpen their knives when you turn your back. You would do well to keep your wolf close beside you. Ice, I see, and daggers in the dark. Blood frozen red and hard, and naked steel. It was very cold.""It is always cold on the Wall.""You think so?""I know so, my lady.""Then you know nothing, Jon Snow," she whispered."
Author: George R.R. Martin

15. "Revealingly, the central function of the Constitution as law--the supreme law--was to impose limitations not on the behavior of ordinary citizens but on the federal government. The government, and those who ran it, were not placed outside the law, but expressly targeted by it. Indeed, the Bill of Rights is little more than a description of the lines that the most powerful political officials are barred from crossing, even if they have the power to do so and even when the majority of citizens might wish them to do so."
Author: Glenn Greenwald

16. "Then they wondered if there were men in the stars. Why not? And as creation is harmonious, the inhabitants of Sirius ought to be huge, those of Mars middle-sized, those of Venus very small. Unless it is the same everywhere. There are businessmen, police up there; people trade, fight, dethrone their kings. Some shooting stars suddenly slid past, describing a course in the sky like the parabola of a monstrous rocket. ‘My Word,' said Bouvard, ‘look at those worlds disappearing.' Pecuchet replied: ‘If our world in its turn danced about, the citizens of the stars would be no more impressed than we are now. Ideas like that are rather humbling.' ‘What is the point of it all?' ‘Perhaps there isn't a point.' ‘Yet…' and Pecuchet repeated the word two or three times, without finding anything more to say."
Author: Gustave Flaubert

17. "Mysle, ze na pewno ciezko jest zyc samemu w miejscu, w którym ktos nas opuscil. dobrze to rozumiem. lecz nie ma na swiecie nic równie okrutnego, jak poczucie opuszczenia wywolane tym, ze nie ma sie na co czekac."
Author: Haruki Murakami

18. "I just had to stay cool. Zen. No punching in the face. Punching would not be Zen."
Author: Ilona Andrews

19. "[T]he success of democracy depends, in the end, on the reliability of the judgments we citizens make, and hence upon our capacity and determination to weigh arguments and evidence rationally."
Author: Irving M. Copi

20. "Living there [Horse Mesa] was like living in a natural cathedral. Waking up every morning, you walked outside and looked down at the blue lake, then up at the sandstone cliffs--those awe-inspiring layers of red and yellow rock shaped over the millennia, with dozens of black-streaked crevices that temporarily became waterfalls after rainstorms."
Author: Jeannette Walls

21. "Yet the home courses are where you spend dozens to hundreds of hours a year. You must choose them well."
Author: Joe Henderson

22. "Vorsichtshalber haben sie das Etikett 'Kapitalismus' ersetzt durch solche, auf denen 'freie Marktwirtschaft' und 'Konsumkultur' steht, nur roch das immer noch zu sehr nach Hund-frisst-Hund, nach allzu vielen Verlierern und maßlos abrahmenden Gewinnern. Wenn man die Hunde aber isch nicht miteinander balgen lässt, dann liegen sie den ganzen Tag im Zwinger und pennen. Im Grund besteht das Problem darin, dass die Gesellschaft anständig zu sein versucht, und mit Anstand ist gegen die menschliche Natur nichts auszurichten. Nicht das Geringste. Wir sollten alle wieder Jäger und Sammler werden, dann hätten wir eine hundertprozentige Beschäftigungsquote und ein gesundes Magenknurren."
Author: John Updike

23. "Baltasar Mateus, o Sete-Sóis, está calado, apenas olha fixamente Blimunda, e de cada vez que ela o olha a ele sente um aperto na boca do estômago, porque olhos como estes nunca se viram, claros de cinzento, ou verde, ou azul, que com a luz de fora variam ou o pensamento de dentro, e às vezes tornam-se negros noturnos ou brancos brilhantes como lasca de carvão de pedra."
Author: José Saramago

24. "Anyway, how can you say things like that? You don't know me at all." She wasn't really caught up in this game, but she was enjoying it, as she had enjoyed the dozens of declarations that had been made to her since she was eleven. Her earliest memories were of being told how beautiful she was. Something in her never believed the words, never felt satisfied. It wasn't modesty; it was a craving for more proof than anyone had ever yet given her. Her mind worked constantly at trying to understand for herself exactly what other people saw when they looked at her. She could never grasp it whole and living. Her deepest fantasy was to step outside of her skin and look at herself and find out just what people were thinking about. She spent her life experimenting with people to see how she could make them react, as if, in their response, she could discover herself."
Author: Judith Krantz

25. "The frozen ocean... of Boston life."
Author: Julia Ward Howe

26. "Tris masas: Igaunija, Latvija un Lietuva ir darinajušas katra par sevi savas kulturas gredzenu. Ikkatrs no tiem laistas sava ipata dailuma.Karlis Skalbe"
Author: Kārlis Skalbe

27. "The skin of frozen snow crunched satisfyingly beneath my boots as I smashed each step into the ground just as I planned to smash my foes."
Author: Kate Elliott

28. "Do not try to understand. What I feel for you cannot be limited to words. I know that you have moved on with your life, yet I stand here, frozen in the midst of your spirit."
Author: Leigh Hershkovich

29. "Dude, now you're flirting?Even to my own ears, my comment sounds suggestive. The sad thing is, it was meant that way. There are literally a dozen things I'd love for her to do for me. Or to me. Or let me do to her. -Nash"
Author: M. Leighton

30. "Movie 2001: A Space Odyssey." Off to the side were dozens of keypunch machines—what passed in those days for computer terminals."
Author: Malcolm Gladwell

31. "Gormenghast. Withdrawn and ruinous it broods in umbra: the immemorial masonry: the towers, the tracts. Is all corroding? No. Through an avenue of spires a zephyr floats; a bird whistles; a freshet beats away from a choked river. Deep in a fist of stone a doll's hand wriggles, warm rebellious on the frozen palm. A shadow shifts its length. A spider stirs... And darkness winds between the characters.- Gormenghast"
Author: Mervyn Peake

32. "Explaining how the two of them, up there in the Green Mountains, had managed to dial down life's urgencies and dial up its pleasures and richness, Gary put it beautifully and poetically: "We've discovered a way" he confided with a sense of gleeful wonderment, "to bend time." I imagined Tracy and me engaged in a similar conspiracy a dozen years or so from now."
Author: Michael J. Fox

33. "În afara actului sexual, sunt putine clipe în viata când trupul exulta de simpla bucurie de a trai, când se umple de bucurie prin simplul fapt al prezentei sale în lume. Ziua de întâi ianuarie a fost plina de asemenea clipe. Pastrez doar amintirea acelei plenitudini, nimic altceva. Probabil c-am înotat, ne-am încalzit la soare si-am facut dragoste. Nu cred sa fi vorbit ori sa ne fi plimbat pe insula. Îmi amintesc mirosul pe care-l avea Valérie, gustul sarii ce i se usca pe sex. Îmi amintesc c-am adormit în ea, si c-am fost trezit de contractiile vaginului ei."
Author: Michel Houellebecq

34. "To cope with hurt and control my fears, I grew a thick skin. Oh, the many names of power - pride, arrogance, control. I am not the frozen snow queen but a flesh and blood woman with perhaps too loving a heart, one easily hurt."
Author: Michelle Cliff

35. "Rage, there's a rage in me that I have to rely on others, even though I'm very good at relying on others. But at the same time it's uncomfortable at times. Think about that. Isn't that a frightening thing? You rely on your lover, you rely on your friends, and finally you have to rely in what you believe if you want to become whole. But we don't like it. We do resent our lovers, especially the idea of relying on your friends to be whole. That means that on your own, you're  (pause) that old fucking zen idea. You're the one hand clapping. (laughs)"
Author: Michka Assayas

36. "A meal that can be packed and frozen and thawed is nothing you should desire--much less teach your kids to want."
Author: Mireille Guiliano

37. "I'm always smiling because I'm happyI'm happy because the sunrise in the morning is a beautiful site to behold,even if it's hidden by clouds and rain and snow, I know it's still thereI'm happy because of the person who just let me ahead,even though ten others wouldn't, one person did, and that was all I neededI'm happy because I have a friendeven though others have dozens or hundreds, one person who will be there for me is all I needI'm happy because of the air filling my lungseven though it may not be the cleanest, it means I'm aliveI'm happy becauseWhile the sun rises and air fills my lungs, My dreams have a chance of one day coming to pass, and one person by my side to see that day with, makes everything else irrelevant.And that, is why, I'm always smiling."
Author: Omar Kiam

38. "What Joe Hamilton lacked more than anything else in the world was some one to kick him. Many a man who might have lived decently and become a fairly respectable citizen has gone to the dogs for the want of some one to administer a good resounding kick at the right time. It is corrective and clarifying."
Author: Paul Laurence Dunbar

39. "Manhattan is a small town. It has to be. Only half a dozen places in Kansas are anything else."
Author: Raymond Chandler

40. "I wanted to be a citizen of the world but not in a superficial way."
Author: Robert Fulghum

41. "After I became a citizen, I felt freer to say what I thought about this country, both negative and positive. I think I had been, consciously and subconsciously, biting my tongue in the past."
Author: Robert MacNeil

42. "I usually do at least a dozen drafts and progressively make more-conscious decisions. Because I've always believed stories are closer to poems than novels, I spend a lot of time on the story's larger rhythms, such as sentence and paragraph length, placement of flashbacks and dialogue."
Author: Ron Rash

43. "If you want to be a true citizen then, be."
Author: Santosh Kalwar

44. "In the zazen posture, your mind and body have, great power to accept things as they are, whether agreeable or disagreeable.In our scriptures (Samyuktagama Sutra, volume 33), it is said that there are four kinds of horses: excellent ones, good ones, poor ones, and bad ones. The best horse will run slow and fast, right and left, at the driver's will, before it sees the shadow of the whip; the second best will run as well as the first one does, just before the whip reaches its skin; the third one will run when it feels pain on its body; the fourth will run after the pain penetrates to the marrow of its bones. You can imagine how difficult it is for the fourth one to learn how to run!"
Author: Shunryu Suzuki

45. "Ich erinnere mich an dich. Wie loderndes Feuer hast du in dieser Hoele ausgesehen, als waerst du ein Wesen aus leuchtenden, tanzenden Farben"
Author: Sophie Jordan

46. "We took a bus to the nearby monastery of one of the last great Tang dynasty Chan masters, Yun-men. Yun-men was known for his pithy "one word" Zen. When asked "What is the highest teaching of the Buddha?" he replied: "An appropriate statement." On another occasion, he answered: "Cake." I admired his directness."
Author: Stephen Batchelor

47. "I love how 'melodrama' is a denigrated term - a lower-class citizen to other genres. And yet that's what life is, man."
Author: Todd Haynes

48. "Early religions were like muddy ponds with lots of foliage. Concealed there, the fish of the soul could splash and feed. Eventually, however, religions became aquariums. Then hatcheries. From farm fingerling to frozen fish stick is a short swim."
Author: Tom Robbins

49. "We have inhabited both the actual and the imaginary realms for a long time. But we don't live in either place the way our parents or ancestors did. Enchantment alters with age, and with the age.We know a dozen Arthurs now, all of them true. The Shire changed irrevocably even in Bilbo's lifetime. Don Quixote went riding out to Argentina and met Jorge Luis Borges there. Plus c'est la même chose, plus ça change."
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin

50. "The zenith is just a little farther away from the nadir"
Author: Uzoma Ezeson

Zen Quotes Pictures