“[Bashō] believed that poetry should arise naturally from close observation, revealing itself in the careful use of ordinary language.”
Bashō, Narrow Road To The Interior (Page 187)
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“You can’t predict what will happen tomorrow, but you can improve your position by sleeping, eating healthy, and working out. You can’t predict what the stock market will do tomorrow, but you can improve your position by ensuring you are never a forced seller. You can’t predict what will happen in your job or life, but you can improve your position by always having a little bit of money on the side. You can’t predict if you will get a promotion, but you can put yourself in a position to get it by acquiring the skills you need before it becomes available. Good positioning lets you control your circumstances. Poor positioning lets your circumstances control you.”
Shane Parrish, Farnam Street Blog
“I tried to give up the Way of Elegance and stop writing poems, but something always stirred my heart and mind—such is its magic.”
Bashō, Narrow Road To The Interior (Page 185)
“In the end, without skill or talent, I’ve given myself over entirely to poetry. Po Chü-i labored at it until he nearly burst. Tu Fu starved rather than abandon it. Neither my intelligence nor my writing is comparable to such men. Nevertheless, in the end, we all live in phantom huts.”
Bashō, Narrow Road To The Interior (Page 182)
Sick on my journey,
only my dreams will wander
these desolate moors
Bashō, Narrow Road To The Interior (Page 179)
All along this road
not a single soul—only
autumn evening
Bashō, Narrow Road To The Interior (Page 168)
28 Timeless Morrie Schwartz Quotes from Tuesdays With Morrie
Excerpt: Morrie Schwartz was dying—and yet had so much left to give. Read our favorite Morrie quotes from Tuesdays With Morrie—the timeless classic.
Read More »28 Timeless Morrie Schwartz Quotes from Tuesdays With Morrie
Lonely stillness—
a single cicada’s cry
sinking into stone
Bashō, Narrow Road To The Interior (Page 155)
“Regard yourself as a cloud, in the flesh, because you see, clouds never make mistakes. Did you ever see a cloud that was misshapen? Did you ever see a badly designed wave? No, they always do the right thing. But, if you will, treat yourself for a while as a cloud or a wave and realize that you can’t make a mistake whatever you do. Because even if you do something that appears totally disastrous, it will all come out in the wash somehow or another. Then through this capacity you will develop a kind of confidence. And through confidence you will be able to trust your own intuition.”
Alan Watts, Taoism: Way Beyond Thinking
“Mental toughness is often portrayed as determination and persistence, but it can also be flexibility and adaptability.
– I can be happy anywhere.
– I can work with what I have.
– I can have a good day with anyone.
You are tough when your mood is not dependent on your conditions.”
James Clear, Blog
“There is no death for the spirit; therefore, a person who lives a spiritual life is freed from death.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 188)