“[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)
“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)
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)
Long conversations
beside blooming irises—
joys of life on the road
Bashō, Narrow Road To The Interior (Page 138)
“Only he who accepts that the essence or meaning of his life is not material but spiritual can be free.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 187)
“If you are a Muslim, go and live as a Christian; if you are a Christian live as a Jew; if you are Catholic, live as an Orthodox—whatever religion you have, hold the same respect for people of different religions. If your speech together does not arouse or excite you to indignation and if you can freely communicate with them, you have achieved peace. It is said that the object of every religion is the same: all people look for love, and all the world is a place of love. Then why should we speak about the difference between the Muslim church and the Christian church?”
Islamic Wisdom, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 186)
“When you suffer, think not on how you can escape suffering, but concentrate your efforts on what kind of inner moral and spiritual perfection this suffering requires.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 185)
“We can understand wisdom in three ways: first, by meditation; this is the most noble way. Secondly, by being influenced by someone or following someone; this is the easiest way. Third is the way of experience; this is the most difficult way.”
Confucius, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 185)
“Do not raise your hand against your brother, and do not spill the blood of any living creatures who live on earth, neither human beings nor pets nor wild animals nor birds. In the depth of your soul some divine voice stops you from spilling this blood. There is life in it. You cannot return this life.”
Alphonse Lamartine, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 184)
“When life gets scary and difficult, we tend to look for solutions in places where it is easy or at least familiar to do so, and not in the dark, uncomfortable places where real solutions might lie.”
Robert Maurer, One Small Step Can Change Your Life
“The advice shouldn’t be to act your age. It should be to act your spirit. Your age may try to prohibit you from dancing like that, or starting over, or trying something new. But your spirit would never do such a thing. If something feels aligned, your spirit wants you to go for it, whether you’re 15 or 85. Acting your age makes you fit in more, while acting your spirit will indeed cause you to stand out—in a bad way to people who act their age, but in an inspiring way to those who act their spirit. Try acting your spirit from time to time, and you can see for yourself which path makes you feel more alive.”
Light Watkins
“Life is a series of tradeoffs, and greater results usually require greater tradeoffs. The question is not, ‘Do you want to be great at this?’ The question is, ‘What are you willing to give up in order to be great at this?’”
James Clear, Blog
“On the ground, a rock is just a rock. But when moving at high speed through the atmosphere, a rock becomes a meteor—alive with fire and burning bright. People are not so different. Without activity, we are lifeless and dull. When moving fast and taking action, we come alive.”
James Clear, Blog