What's Your Favourite Quotation?

Question

I love quotations and the one's which require a bit of thought after you have read them are the best.
I would like to build up a collection of these. So if there are any of your favourites then let me know? Also some Zen quotes please?
Thank you

Answer 1

1. Strictly speaking, for a human being there is no other practice than this practice. There is no other way of life than this way of life. Zen practice is the direct expression of our true nature. Shunryu Suzuki-roshi (1905-71)

2. The formless body of complete illumination of the nature of awareness; Don't use knowledge and views, misconstruing far and near. If thoughts vary, you're blind to the profound essence; If the mind differs, you're not close to the path. When feelings discriminate myriad things, they submerge the present situation; When consciousness perceives many aspects, you lose the original reality. If you can understand clearly from such sayings, Clearly you're the man of before, without any concern. Sozan Honjaku [Ts'ao-shan Pen-chi] (840-901)

3. Just avoid seeking from others, Or you will be far estranged from yourself. I now go on alone; I meet Him everywhere - He is now just I, but I now am not He: One must understand in this way In order to unite with thusness. Tozan Ryokai [Tung-shan Liang-chieh] (807-869)

4. Fellow learners! To achieve Buddhahood there is no need for cultivation. Just carry on an ordinary task without any attachments. Release your bowels and water, wear your clothes, eat your meals. When you are tired, lie down. The fool will laugh at you, but the wise man will understand. Rinzai [Lin-chi I-hsuan] (?-866)

5. In the universe there is not a spot of land as small as a mustard seed where I have not sacrificed my life or have not buried my bones. Sakyamuni Buddha (c. 563-483 B.C.)

6. Even when then bamboos are growing thick, they do not obstruct the running stream.

7. The Perfect Way knows no difficulties Except that it refuses to make preferences; Only when freed from hate and love, It reveals itself fully and without disguise; A tenth of an inch's difference, And heaven and earth are set apart; If you wish to see it before your own eyes, Have no fixed thoughts either for or against it.

8. I asked God for strength, that I might achieve, I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey ... I asked for health, that I might do greater things, I was given infirmity, that I might do better things ... I asked for riches, that I might be happy, I was given poverty, that I might be wise ... I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men, I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God ... I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life, I was given life, that I might enjoy all things ... I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I had hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am among all men, most richly blessed - Anonymous

9. Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:38-39)

10. If you judge people, you have no time to love them - Mother Teresa

11. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Mahatma Gandhi

12. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. Hellen Keller

13. My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you'll be happy; if not, you'll become a philosopher. Socrates

14. Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools. Napoleon Bonaparte

15. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
Neil Armstrong

16. History is a cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of man. Percy Bysshe Shelley

17. Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours. Yogi Berra

18. A gentleman is one who never strikes a woman without provocation. H L Mencken

19. Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play it is free will. Jawaharlal Nehru

20. In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. The young they keep out of mischief; to the old they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life they incite to noble deeds. Aristotle

Answer 2

"It is not the critic who counts...
not the man who points out where the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Teddy Roosevelt 1910

Answer 3

"In the depths of winter I finally found that there was in me an invincible summer."
"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. "
"Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity. "
These are all by Albert Camus
"If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are."
--Zen proverb
And, another favorite
"The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on, it is never any use to oneself."
-Oscar Wilde
"An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind."
-Ghandi

Answer 4

I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.
-- Terry Pratchett

Do I listen to popular music because I'm miserable, or am I miserable because I listen to pop music?
-- Nick Hornby

A waste is a terrible thing to mind.
-- Dunno

Answer 5

"At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet" - ?? (can't remember who said that one.)

"Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify... simplify." - Thoreau

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined!" - Thoreau

Answer 6

It doesnt matter how hard u fall, what really matters is how fast u get up - Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand

Answer 7

I have loved the stars too fondly
to be fearful of the night.

Answer 8

Better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.

Answer 9

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
--George Orwell--

Answer 10

There is only one true happiness in life: to love and be loved. - George Sand.