Week 2022-52: Gichin Funakoshi - Collected Quotes

"In training, do not expect good results in a short time. [...] train systematically, without becoming impatient or overexerting yourself, and develop gradually, advancing steadily, one stop at a time, with increased application of force and numbers of exercises practiced." (Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text", 1935)

"The objective of martial arts has always been to defend oneself and not to attack others [...]" (Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text", 1935)

"The secret principle of martial arts is not vanquishing the attacker but resolving to avoid an encounter before its occurrence. To become the object of an attack is an indication that there was an opening in one's guard, and the important thing is to be on guard at all times." (Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text", 1935)

"To stand still is to regress; those who think that they have learned everything and become conceited braggarts proclaiming their own merits after learning the movements of some kata and acquiring dexterity in their physical movements are not fit to be considered as serious trainees in the martial arts." (Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text", 1935)

"Karate is a defensive art from beginning to end" (Gichin Funakoshi)

"Since karate is a martial art, you must practice with the utmost seriousness from the very beginning." (Gichin Funakoshi, Karate-dō Nyūmon: The Master Introductory Text")

"The ultimate aim of the art of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of it's participants." (Gichin Funakoshi)

"There is no first strike in Karate." (Gichin Funakoshi)

"You may train for a long time, but if you merely move your hands and feet and jump up and down like a puppet, learning karate is not very different from learning a dance. You will never have reached the heart of the matter; you will have failed to grasp the quintessence of karate-do." (Gichin Funakoshi)

"When two tigers fight, one is certain to be maimed, and one to die." (Gichin Funakoshi)

Week 2022-51: Jim Lau - Collected Quotes

"A good player recognizes these moves for what they are: a process of sounding out and experimentation. The good player is patient. He is observant, controlling his patience, and organizing his composure. When he sees an opportunity he explodes." (Jim Lau)

"I can defeat you physically with or without a reason. But I can only defeat your mind with a reason. (Jim Lau)

"It's not bad to have aggressive or hostile thoughts and feelings towards others. When you acknowledge these feelings you no longer have to pretend to be that which you are not. You can learn to accept these moods. What is bad, however, is letting them dictate your nature. When you unleash your aggression or hostility on another person, it inspires aggression and hostility in return. The result then is conflict, which all true martial artists try to avoid. Anger doesn't demand action. When you act in anger, you lose self-control." (Jim Lau)

"Stop straining. The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be." (Jim Lau)

"There are times when you should fight, and there are times when you should split." (Jim Lau)

"When a problem arises, don't fight with it or try to deny it. Accept and acknowledge it. Be patient in seeking a solution or opening, and then fully commit yourself to the resolution you think advisable." (Jim Lau)

"You must learn to allow patience and stillness to take over from anxiety and frantic activity for the sake of doing something, Between martial artists of the first rank, there is room for only one mistake. Before an exchange of blows, several minutes may be spent in controlled patience and planning while each man respectfully observes his opponent, studying his position or stance, watching, getting ideas, and charging his energy. When one man thinks he is going to attack, his opponent may quickly change his stance. If he has overreacted, his opponent makes a note of it. This is a weakness which he will later attempt to use to his advantage." (Jim Lau)

Week 2022-50: Wayne Dyer - Collected Quotes

"Acceptance means no complaining, and happiness means no complaining about the things over which you can do nothing." (Wayne Dyer, "Your Erroneous Zones", 1976)

"Behavior is a much better barometer of what you are than words." (Wayne Dyer, "Your Erroneous Zones", 1976)

"Be a student. Stay open and willing to learn from everyone and anyone. Being a student means you have room for new input. When you are green you grow, when you are ripe you rot. By staying green you will avoid the curse of being an expert. When you know in your heart that every single person you encounter in your lifetime has something to teach you, you are able to utilize their offerings in a profound way." (Wayne Dyer, "Real Magic: Creating Miracles in Everyday Life", 1992)

"Everything in the universe has a purpose. Indeed, the invisible intelligence that flows through everything in a purposeful fashion is also flowing through you." (Wayne Dyer, "Real Magic: Creating Miracles in Everyday Life", 1992)

"Act as if what you intend to manifest in life is already a reality. Eliminate thoughts of conditions, limitations, or the possibility of it not manifesting. If left undisturbed in your mind and in the mind of intention simultaneously, it will germinate in the physical world." (Wayne Dyer, "Everyday Wisdom for Success", 1993)

"The only boundaries we have are in form. There are no obstacles in thought." (Wayne Dyer, "Everyday Wisdom", 1993)

"You create your thoughts, your thoughts create your intentions, and your intentions create your reality." (Wayne Dyer, "Everyday Wisdom for Success", 1993)

"Gratitude is a sacred space where you allow and know that a force greater than your ego is always at work and always available." (Wayne Dyer, "The Power of Intention", 2004)

"Intention is not something you do, but rather a force that exists in the universe as an invisible field of energy, a power that can carry us. (Wayne Dyer, "The Power of Intention", 2004)

"Your imagination creates the inner picture that allows you to participate in the act of creation." (Wayne Dyer, "The Power of Intention", 2004)

"Thoughts are mental energy; they're the currency that you have to attract what you desire. You must learn to stop spending that currency on thoughts you don't want." (Wayne Dyer, "Being in Balance: 9 Principles for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires", 2006)

"While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries." (Wayne Dyer, "Being in Balance: 9 Principles for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires", 2006)

"Most people are searching for happiness. They're looking for it. They're trying to find it in someone or something outside of themselves. That's a fundamental mistake. Happiness is something that you are, and it comes from the way you think." (Wayne Dyer, "Staying on the Path: Easyread Super Large 24pt Edition", 2009)

"Our most important problems cannot be solved; they must be outgrown." (Wayne Dyer, "Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits", 2009)

"The use of mental imagery is one of the strongest and most effective strategies for making something happen for you." (Wayne Dyer, "Staying on the Path: Easyread Super Large 18pt Edition", 2009)

"With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose." (Wayne Dyer, "Staying on the Path: Easyread Super Large 18pt Edition", 2009)

"This is called synchronicity - a state in which you almost feel as if you are in a collaborative arrangement with fate." (Wayne Dyer, "I Can See Clearly Now", 2014)

Week 2022-49: Sri Aurobindo - Collected Quotes

"Our actual enemy is not any force exterior to ourselves, but our own crying weaknesses, our cowardice, our selfishness, our hypocrisy, our purblind sentimentalism." (Sri Aurobindo, "New Lamps for Old", 1893)

"The deeper we look, the more we shall be convinced that the one thing wanting, which we must strive to acquire before all others, is strength — strength physical, strength mental, strength moral, but above all strength spiritual which is the one inexhaustible and imperishable source of all the others. If we have strength everything else will be added to us easily and naturally." (Sri Aurobindo, "India's Rebirth", 1905)

"A thought is an arrow shot at the truth; it can hit a point, but not cover the whole target. But the archer is too well satisfied with his success to ask anything farther."  (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Aphorisms", 1913)

"Inspiration is a slender river of brightness leaping from a vast and eternal knowledge, it exceeds reason more perfectly than reason exceeds the knowledge of the senses." (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Aphorisms", 1913)

"Mankind has used two powerful weapons to destroy its own powers and enjoyment, wrong indulgence and wrong abstinence." (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Aphorisms", 1913)

"Be conscious first of thyself within, then think and act. All living thought is a world in preparation; all real act is a thought manifested. The material world exists because an Idea began to play in divine self-consciousness." (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Glimpses", 1916-17)

"Nothing in the many processes of Nature, whether she deals with men or with things, comes by chance or accident or is really at the mercy of external causes."  (Sri Aurobindo, "The Renaissance in India", 1918)

"Suffering makes us capable of the full force of the Master of Delight; it makes us capable also to bear the utter play of the Master of Power. Pain is the key that opens the gates of strength; it is the high-road that leads to the city of beatitude." (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Aphorisms", 1913)

"The strangest of the soul's experiences is this, that it finds, when it ceases to care for the image and threat of troubles, then the troubles themselves are nowhere to be found in one's neighbourhood. It is then that we hear from behind those unreal clouds God laughing at us." (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Aphorisms", 1913)

"Transform effort into an easy and sovereign overflowing of the soul-strength; let all thyself be conscious force. This is thy goal." (Sri Aurobindo, "Thoughts and Glimpses", 1916-17)

"Spirituality is not necessarily exclusive; it can be and in its fullness must be all-inclusive." (Sri Aurobindo, "The Renaissance in India", 1918)

"The supreme truths are neither the rigid conclusions of logical reasoning nor the affirmations of credal statement, but fruits of the soul's inner experience." (Sri Aurobindo, "Indian Spirituality and Life", 1919)

"All religions have some truth in them, but none has the whole truth; all are created in time and finally decline and perish."  (Sri Aurobindo, [letter] 1929)

"The way of yoga followed here has a different purpose from others, - for its aim is not only to rise out of the ordinary ignorant world-consciousness into the divine consciousness, but to bring the supramental power of that divine consciousness down into the ignorance of mind, life and body, to transform them, to manifest the Divine here and create a divine life in Matter." (Sri Aurobindo, "Lights on Yoga", 1935)

"Nothing to the supramental sense is really finite; it is founded on a feeling of all in each and of each in all." (Sri Aurobindo, "The Synthesis of Yoga", 1948)

"The material object becomes [...] something different from what we now see, not a separate object on the background or in the environment of the rest of nature but an indivisible part and even in a subtle way an expression of the unity of all that we see." (Sri Aurobindo, "The Synthesis of Yoga", 1948)

 "When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence." (Sri Aurobindo)

Week 2022-48: Carlos Castañeda - Collected Quotes

"A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it might never live to regret it." (Carlos Castaneda, "The Teachings of Don Juan", 1968)

"Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question... Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use." (Carlos Castaneda, "The Teachings of Don Juan", 1968)

"Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge. A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges." (Carlos Castaneda, "The Teachings of Don Juan", 1968)

"The most effective way to live is as a warrior. A warrior may worry and think before making any decision, but once he makes it, he goes his way, free from worries or thoughts; there will be a million other decisions still awaiting him. That's the warrior's way." (Carlos Castañeda, "A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan", 1971)

"Things don't change. You change your way of looking, that's all." (Carlos Castañeda, "A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan", 1971)

"It doesn't matter what one reveals or what one keeps to oneself. Everything we do, everything we are, rests on our personal power. If we don't have enough personal power the most magnificent piece of wisdom can be revealed to us and it won't make a damn bit of difference." (Carlos Castaneda, "Tales of Power", 1974)

"The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse." (Carlos Castaneda, "Tales of Power", 1974)

"The world doesn't yield to us directly, the description of the world stands in between. So, properly speaking, we are always one step removed and our experiences of the world is always a recollection of the experience. We are perennially recollecting the instant that has just happened, just passed. Re recollect, recollect, recollect." (Carlos Castaneda, "Tales of Power", 1974)

"The daily world exists because we know how to hold its images; consequently, if one drops the attention needed to maintain those images, the world collapses." (Carlos Castaneda, "Second Ring of Power", 1977)

"To tune the spirit when someone is trampling on you is called control." (Carlos Castaneda, "The Fire from Within", 1984)

"The third point of reference is freedom of perception; it is intent; it is spirit; the somersault of thought into the miraculous; the act of reaching beyond our boundaries and touching the inconceivable." (Carlos Castaneda, "Power of Silence", 1987) 

"Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore, a warrior must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if he feels that he should not follow it, he must not stay with it under any conditions. His decision to keep on that path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. He must look at every path closely and deliberately. There is a question that a warrior has to ask, mandatorily: 'Does this path have a heart?'" (Carlos Castaneda, "The Wheel of Time: The Shamans of Mexico Their Thoughts About Life", 1998)

"The internal dialogue is what grounds people in the daily world. The world is such and such or so and so, only because we talk to ourselves about its being such and such and so and so. The passageway into the world of shamans opens up after the warrior has learned to shut off his internal dialogue." (Carlos Castaneda, "The Wheel of Time: The Shamans of Mexico Their Thoughts About Life", 1998)

Week 2022-47: Kyuzo Mifune - Collected Quotes

"A chance to try your technique is in one instant never to be regained, so try it without hesitation." (Kyuzo Mifune, "Canon of Judo: Principle and Technique", 1956)

"Action of a man, for instance, done without the unity of mind and body. may be indecent and cause harm to the people around him. This unity of mind and body creates reason in external presentation." (Kyuzo Mifune, "Canon of Judo: Principle and Technique", 1956)

"Be swift. The center of gravity follows the movement of body; as the center of gravity is the most important center of keeping stability, so if the center of gravity is lost. the body is naturally unbalanced. So always fix your mind and keep your body lightly, and move quickly when needed. fixing the center of gravity so instantly as to admit of no chance to the opponent." (Kyuzo Mifune, "Canon of Judo: Principle and Technique", 1956)

"In explaining Judo, often we say 'Gentleness often controls sturdness' (as 'Ju' or Yawara implies tenderness) : Judo shows free mental-attitude created by gentle and elastic capability, physical and mental, which enables a player in face of emergency to change his position and act or avert a danger in accordance with the requirement of time and place given." (Kyuzo Mifune, "Canon of Judo: Principle and Technique", 1956)

"Judo objective is found in infinite sincerity naturally shown, and is in common with truth. mind and body. And this is universal life of nature. Everything in nature keeps or endeavors to keep stability in motion, and the human beings as one of them are not against reason. But man, having ability to think. judge. select and act. seeks to obtain stability in psychology and the law of nature." (Kyuzo Mifune, "Canon of Judo: Principle and Technique", 1956)

"The revolution of heavens and earth is carried on according to the laws of universe, and such laws correspond to nature. Nature exists without will; consistent with existence. nature is not against fidelity." (Kyuzo Mifune, "Canon of Judo: Principle and Technique", 1956)

"A sphere never loses its center, it moves swiftly without strain, and it does not resist force." (Kyuzo Mifune)

"Do not place hope in finding a secret technique. Polish the mind through ceaseless training; that is the key to effective techniques." (Kyuzo Mifune)

"The mind, if slackened even a little, will cause defeat, the same as fearing the opponent will make you unable to use full strength." (Kyuzo Mifune)

Week 2022-46: Lin Yutang - Collected Quotes

"A good traveler is one who does not know where he is going to, and a perfect traveler does not know where he came from."  (Lin Yutang, "The Importance of Living", 1937)

"After all, only he who handles his ideas lightly is master of his ideas, and only he who is master of his ideas is not enslaved by them. Seriousness, after all, is only a sign of effort, and effort is a sign of imperfect mastery." (Lin Yutang, "The Importance of Living", 1937)

"Now it must be taken for granted that simplicity of life and thought is the highest and sanest ideal for civilization and culture, that when a civilization loses simplicity and the sophisticated do not return to unsophistication, civilization becomes increasingly full of troubles and degenerates. Man then becomes the slave of the ideas, thoughts, ambitions and social systems that are his own product." (Lin Yutang, "The Importance of Living", 1937)

"Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst." (Lin Yutang, "The Importance of Living", 1937)

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials." (Lin Yutang)

"Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence." (Lin Yutang)

"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." (Lin Yutang)

"Sometimes it is more important to discover what one cannot do, than what one can do." (Lin Yutang)

"This I conceive to be the chemical function of humor: to change the character of our thought." (Lin Yutang)

Week 2022-45: Ken Wilber - Collected Quotes

"The ultimate metaphysical secret, if we dare state it so simply, is that there are no boundaries in the universe. Boundaries are illusions, products not of reality but of the way we map and edit reality. And while it is fine to map out the territory, it is fatal to confuse the two." (Ken Wilber, "No Boundary: Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth", 1979)

"Physics is the most fundamental, and least significant, of the sciences." (Ken Wilber, "Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution", 1995)

"Anybody can they say they are being "spiritual" — and they are, because everybody has some type and level of concern. Let us therefore see their actual conception, in thought and action, and see how many perspectives it is in fact concerned with, and how many perspectives it actually takes into account, and how many perspectives it attempts to integrate, and thus let us see how deep and how wide runs that bodhisattva vow to refuse rest until all perspectives whatsoever are liberated into their own primordial nature." (Ken Wilber, "The Eye of Spirit: An Integral Vision for a World Gone Slightly Mad", 1997)

"Spirit slumbers in nature, awakens in mind, and finally recognizes itself as Spirit in the transpersonal domains."  (Ken Wilber, "A Brief History of Everything", 1998)

"Truth, in the broadest sense, means being attuned with the real. To be authentically in touch with the true, and the good and the beautiful." (Ken Wilber, "A Brief History of Everything", 1998)

"These similarities would seem to suggest, among other things, that there are spiritual patterns at work in the universe, at least as far as we can tell, and these spiritual patterns announce themselves with impressive regularity wherever human hearts and minds attempt to attune themselves to the cosmos in all its radiant dimensions." (Ken Wilber, "An Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World", 2007)

"Reality is a rich tapestry of interwoven levels, reaching from matter to body to mind to soul to spirit." (Ken Wilber)

"The modern West, after the enlightenment, became the first major civilization in the history of humanity to deny almost entirely the existence of the Great Nest (or chain) of Being. In its place was a 'flatland' conception of the universe as composed basically of matter (or matter/energy) and this material universe [...] could be studied by science and science alone." (Ken Wilber)

Week 2022-44: Frank Herbert - Collected Quotes

"A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"A system has order, flowing from point to point. If something dams that flow, order collapses. The untrained might miss that collapse until it was too late. That's why the highest function of ecology is the understanding of consequences." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who do survive." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic." (Frank Herbert, "Dune: The Prophet", 1965)

"Growth is limited by that necessity which is present in the least amount. And, naturally, the least favorable condition controls the growth rate." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"Proper teaching is recognized with ease. You can know it without fail because it awakens within you that sensation which tells you this is something you have always known." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"Scientists seek the lawfulness of events. It is the task of Religion to fit man into this lawfulness." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"The mind can go either direction under stress - toward positive or toward negative: on or off. Think of it as a spectrum whose extremes are unconsciousness at the negative end and hyperconsciousness at the positive end. The way the mind will lean under stress is strongly influenced by training." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"Learning a language represents training in the delusions of that language." (Frank Herbert, "The Bureau of Sabotage: Whipping Star", 1969)

"There are problems in this universe for which there are no answers." (Frank Herbert, "Dune Messiah", 1969)

"Whether a thought is spoken or not it is a real thing and has powers of reality." (Frank Herbert, "Dune Messiah", 1969)

"Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." (Frank Herbert, "Children of Dune", 1976)

"All proofs inevitably lead to propositions which have no proof! All things are known because we want to believe in them." (Frank Herbert, "Children of Dune", 1976)

"It must certainly be more dangerous to live in ignorance than to live with knowledge." (Frank Herbert, "The White Plague", 1982)

"Memory never recaptures reality. Memory reconstructs. All reconstructions change the original, becoming external frames of reference that inevitably fall short." (Frank Herbert, "Heretics of Dune", 1983)

"Technology is both a tool for helping humans and for destroying them. This is the paradox of our times which we're compelled to face." (Frank Herbert, [interview with Tim O'Reilly], 1983)

"We never completely escape the teachers of our childhood nor any of the patterns that formed us." (Frank Herbert, "Heretics of Dune", 1983)

"Dangers lurk in all systems. Systems incorporate the unexamined beliefs of their creators. Adopt a system, accept its beliefs, and you help strengthen the resistance to change." (Frank Herbert, "God Emperor of Dune", 1984)

"History is a constant race between invention and catastrophe." (Frank Herbert, "God Emperor of Dune", 1984)

"The truth always carries the ambiguity of the words used to express it." (Frank Herbert, "God Emperor of Dune", 1984)

"What do such machines really do? They increase the number of things we can do without thinking. Things we do without thinking - there's the real danger." (Frank Herbert, "God Emperor of Dune", 1984)

"Clinging to any form of conservatism can be dangerous. Become too conservative and you are unprepared for surprises. You cannot depend on luck. Logic is blind and often knows only its own past. Logic is good for playing chess but is often too slow for the needs of survival." (Frank Herbert, "Chapterhouse: Dune", 1985)

"Intelligence takes chances with limited data in an arena where mistakes are not only possible but also necessary." (Frank Herbert, "Chapterhouse: Dune", 1985)

"Order generally was a product of human activity. Chaos existed as a raw material from which to create order." (Frank Herbert, "Chapterhouse: Dune", 1985)

"Education is no substitute for intelligence. That elusive quality is defined only in part by puzzle-solving ability. It is in the creation of new puzzles reflecting what your senses report that you round out the definitions." (Frank Herbert, "Chapterhouse: Dune", 1985)

"The thing the ecologically illiterate don't realize about an ecosystem is that it's a system. A system! A system maintains a certain fluid stability that can be destroyed by a misstep in just one niche." (Frank Herbert, "Dune: House Atreides", 1999)

"Life - all life - is in the service of life. Necessary nutrients are made available to life by life in greater and greater richness as the diversity of life increases. The entire landscape comes alive, filled with relationships and relationships within relationships." (Frank Herbert, "Dune: House Corrino", 2001)

Week 2022-43: Blaise Pascal - Collected Quotes

"Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth." (Blaise Pascal, "Pensées", 1670)

"Education produces natural intuitions, and natural intuitions are erased by education." (Blaise Pascal, "Pensées", 1670)

"Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed." (Blaise Pascal, "Pensées", 1670)

"Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference nowhere." (Blaise Pascal, "Pensées", 1670)

"Symmetry is what we see at a glance; based on the fact that there is no reason for any difference, and based also on the face of man; whence it happens that symmetry is only wanted in breadth, not in height or depth." (Blaise Pascal, "Pensées", 1670)

"Take away probability, and you can no longer please the world; give probability, and you can no longer displease it." (Blaise Pascal, "Thoughts", 1670)

"We know that there is an infinite, and we know not its nature. As we know it to be false that numbers are finite, it is therefore true that there is a numerical infinity. But we know not of what kind; it is untrue that it is even, untrue that it is odd; for the addition of a unit does not change its nature; yet it is a number, and every number is odd or even (this certainly holds of every finite number). Thus, we may quite well know that there is a God without knowing what He is." (Blaise Pascal, "Pensées", 1670)

"We see neither justice nor injustice which does not change its nature with change in climate. Three degrees of latitude reverse all jurisprudence: a meridian decides the truth." (Blaise Pascal, "Pensées", 1670)

"What is man in nature? A Nothing in comparison with the Infinite, an All in comparison with the Nothing, a mean between nothing and everything. Since he is infinitely removed from comprehending the extremes, the end of things and their beginning are hopelessly hidden from him in an impenetrable secret; he is equally incapable of seeing the Nothing from which he was made, and the Infinite in which he is swallowed up." (Blaise Pascal, "Pensées", 1670) 

"The eternal silence of these infinite spaces terrifies me." (Blaise Pascal)

"We are generally more effectually persuaded by reasons we have ourselves discovered than by those which have occurred to others." (Blaise Pascal)

Week 2022-42: Immanuel Kant - Collected Quotes

"God put a secret art into the forces of Nature so as to enable it to fashion itself out of chaos into a perfect world system." (Immanuel Kant, "Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens", 1755)

"It is presumed that there exists a great unity in nature, in respect of the adequacy of a single cause to account for many different kinds of consequences." (Immanuel Kant, "Theoretical Philosophy", 1755-1770)

"The sublime must always be great; the beautiful can also be small. The sublime must be simple; the beautiful can be adorned or ornamented. A great height is just as sublime as a great depth, except that the latter is accompanied with the sensation of shuddering, the former with one of wonder. Hence the latter feeling can be the terrifying sublime, and the former the noble." (Immanuel Kant, "Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime", 1764)

"All thought must, directly or indirectly, by way of certain characters, relate ultimately to intuitions, and therefore, with us, to sensibility, because in no other way can an object be given to us." (Immanuel Kant, "Critique of Pure Reason", 1781)

"Our knowledge springs from two fundamental sources of the mind; the first is the capacity of receiving representations (receptivity for impressions), the second is the power of knowing an object through these representations (spontaneity [in the production] of concepts)." (Immanuel Kant, "Critique of Pure Reason", 1781)

"There can be no doubt that all our knowledge begins with experience." (Immanuel Kant, "Critique of Pure Reason", 1781)

"Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind. The understanding can intuit nothing, the senses can think nothing. Only through their unison can knowledge arise." (Immanuel Kant, "Critique of Pure Reason", 1781)

"Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination." (Immanuel Kant, "Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Ethics", 1785)

"Each according to his own way of seeing things, seek one goal, that is gratification." (Immanuel Kant, "Critique of Judgment", 1790)

"We assume a common sense as the necessary condition of the universal communicability of our knowledge, which is presupposed in every logic and every principle of knowledge that is not one of skepticism." (Immanuel Kant, "Critique of Judgment", 1790)

"One says of a person who has travelled much, that he has seen the world. to the knowledge of the world than just seeing it. Whoever wants to must draw up a plan beforehand and must not just regard the world senses." (Immanuel Kant, "Physische Geographie" [Physical Geography], 1802)

"[…] there is a God precisely because Nature itself, even in chaos, cannot proceed except in an orderly and regular manner." (Immanuel Kant)

Week 2022-41: Edgar Cayce - Collected Quotes

"Actually, we have no problems - we have opportunities for which we should give thanks [...] An error we refuse to correct has many lives. It takes courage to face one's own shortcomings and wisdom to do something about them." (Edgar Cayce)

"Healing of the physical without the change in the mental and spiritual aspects brings little real help to the individual in the end. How true, because the mind and the body imprint and imitate each other. What we think, we become. What we become, we think. It's an insidious process that can predispose us to illness or it can lead us to health." (Edgar Cayce)

"Individuals do not meet by chance. They are necessary in the experiences of others, though they may not always use their opportunities in a spiritual way or manner." (Edgar Cayce)

"It is the rhythmic form in which the mind tends to perceive monotonously repeated stimulation. That's why we pray and why we should also pray audibly, because the sound stimulates the ability to awaken our senses, in order to arouse the forces which will strengthen the psychic abilities within." (Edgar Cayce)

"Mind is indeed the Builder [...] what is held in the act of mental vision becomes a reality in the material experience. We are gradually builded to that image created within our own mental being." (Edgar Cayce)

"Since karma is meeting self, we acquire karma as we meet self in our many attitudes and emotions; when we serve in loving kindness and patience or hold resentful malicious thoughts What we do to our fellow man we do to our Maker our karma or problem is within self." (Edgar Cayce)

"The purpose of the heart is to know yourself, to be yourself, and yet one with God." (Edgar Cayce)

"What Is Meditation? It is not musing, not daydreaming; but as ye find you bodies made up of the physical, mental and spiritual, it is the attuning of the mental body and the physical body to its spiritual source." (Edgar Cayce)

Week 2022-40: Yagyū Munenori - Collected Quotes

"A stroke of the sword that does not hit its target is the sword stroke of death; you reach over it to strike the winning blow. Your adversary's initiative having missed its mark, you turn the tables around and get the jump on your adversary." (Yagyū Munenori, "A Hereditary Book on the Art of War", 1632)

"Conquering evil, not the opponent, is the essence of swordsmanship." (Yagyū Munenori, "A Hereditary Book on the Art of War", 1632)

"If you gaze at a single leaf on a single tree, you do not see the other leaves. If you face the tree with no intention and do not fix your eyes on a single leaf, then you will see all the many leaves. If your mind is preoccupied with one leaf, you do not see the others, if you do not set your attention on one; you will see hundreds and thousands of leaves." (Yagyū Munenori, "A Hereditary Book on the Art of War", 1632)

"Once a fight has started, if you get involved in thinking about what to do, you will be cut down by your opponent with the very next blow." (Yagyū Munenori, "A Hereditary Book on the Art of War", 1632)

"There may be a hundred stances and sword positions, but you win with just one." (Yagyū Munenori, "A Hereditary Book on the Art of War", 1632)

"When you strike a blow, do not let your mind dally on it, not concerning yourself with whether or not it is a telling blow; you should strike again and again, over and over, even four or five times. The thing is not to let your opponent even raise his head." (Yagyū Munenori, "A Hereditary Book on the Art of War", 1632)

"It is because a mirror has no commitment to any image that it can clearly and accurately reflect any image before it.  The mind of a warrior is like a mirror in that it has no commitment to any outcome and is free to let form and purpose result on the spot, according to the situation." (Yagyu Munenori)

"It is bias to think that the art of war is just for killing people. It is not to kill people, it is to kill evil. It is a strategem to give life to many people by killing the evil of one person." (Yagyū Munenori)

"See first with your mind, then with your eyes, and finally with your body." (Yagyū Munenori)

"The archer should forget about shooting the arrow, and shoot as he would doing nothing special. Then the shot will be smooth. When wielding the long sword, or riding a horse, do it as though you would not wield a sword or ride a horse [...] Stop doing everything, have an empty, everyday's mind, even when you have lots of things to do, do it easily, smoothly. The man who has nothing on his heart is the man of the Way." (Yagyu Munenori)

"Throwing down your own sword is also an art of war. If you have attained mastery of swordlessness, you will never lack for a sword. The opponent's sword is your sword. This is acting at the vanguard of the moment." (Yagyū Munenori)

"When you practice archery, if your mind is occupied with shooting the arrow, the shot will be disturbed, and will not be settled (smooth). If you are wielding the long sword, and your mind is fixed on wielding the sword, the sword will not move smoothly." (Yagyu Munenori)

Week 2022-39: Kabir - Collected Quotes

"Admire the diamond that can bear the hits of a hammer. Many deceptive preachers, when critically examined, turn out to be false." (Kabir)

"Be quiet in your mind, quiet in your senses, and also quiet in your body. Then, when all these are quiet, don't do anything. In that state truth will reveal itself to you." (Kabir)

"But if a mirror ever makes you sad you should know that it does not know you," (Kabir)

"Don't open your diamonds in a vegetable market. Tie them in bundle and keep them in your heart, and go your own way." (Kabir)

"Just throw away all thoughts of imaginary things, and stand firm in that which you are." (Kabir)

"The apple blossom exists to create fruit; when that comes, the petal falls." (Kabir)

"The flute of the infinite is played without ceasing, and its sound is love." (Kabir)

Week 2022-38: Pao-chih - Collected Quotes

"Buddha-nature is natural and spontaneous; it is not caused, conditioned, or fabricated." (Pao-chih)

"Do not hold to the intellectual understanding of others; turn the light of awareness back to the root, and it is not there at all." (Pao-chih)

"If you place your mind in the midst of grasping and rejecting, you will be under the influence of those two states." (Pao-chih)

"If you realize the original mind is empty some day, the fullness of reality as is will not leave you lacking." (Pao-chih)

"Just seek nothing at all, and afflictions will naturally fall away." (Pao-chih)

"The nature of things is empty and has no verbal explanation; there is nothing at all in interdependent occurrence." (Pao-chih)

"The objects of sense are originally empty and null; ordinary people arbitrarily create attachments and fixations. Nirvana and samsara are equal; who in the world gets differential treatment? The uncontrived Great Way is natural and spontaneous; you don’t need to use your mind to figure it out." (Pao-chih)

"The right way and wrong ways are not two. When perfectly known, ordinary and sage are on the same road. Illusion and enlightenment originally have no distinction; nirvana and samsara are one suchness." (Pao-chih)

"The wise have no mind to seek Buddha. The ignorant cling to wrong and right. Passing all their lives in wasted toil, they do not see the sublime peak of realization of being as is. If you realize the essence of lust is empty, then even hellfire is cool." (Pao-chih)

"When they realize that life and death are like dreams, all their sense of seeking will spontaneously stop." (Pao-chih)

"When you know all things are equal, you are serenely clear and open, blissfully happy." (Pao-chih)

Week 2022-37: Dogen Zenji - Collected Quotes

"A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it." (Dogen Zenji)

"Bodhisattvas who study prajna-wisdom must first have deep compassion for all beings and a deep longing to save all of them. They must practice samadhi meditation with great care. Refusing to practice zazen only for their own emancipation, they must promise to ferry these sentient beings over to the other shore." (Dogen Zenji, "Zazen gi", cca. 13th century)

"Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself. Your body and mind will become clear and you will realize the unity of all things." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"Don’t cling to your own understanding. Even if you do understand something, you should ask yourself if there might be something you have not fully resolved, or if there may be some higher meaning yet." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water. Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky. The depth of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long or short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"Even after getting out of samadhi, you should always be on the alert to act responsively and protect your power of concentration as you protect a baby. Then, it will be easy for you to cultivate your power of concentration until it comes to maturity." (Dogen Zenji, "Zazen gi", cca. 13th century)

"Even if it is painful and lonely, associate with worthy companions." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"If you want to get out of samadhi, move your body slowly, stand up calmly and not suddenly."  (Dogen Zenji, "Zazen gi", cca. 13th century)

"First awaken your compassionate mind with a deep longing to save all sentient beings. You must practice samadhi meditation with great care, and promise to ferry these sentient beings over to the other shore, refusing to practice zazen only for your own emancipation." (Dogen Zenji, "Zazen gi", cca. 13th century)

"Once the posture has been stabilized and the breath regulated, push forth the lower abdomen; one thinks not of good or evil." (Dogen Zenji, "Zazen gi", cca. 13th century)

"One need not necessarily depend on the words of the ancients, but must only think of what is really true." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"One should not differentiate good and bad on the basis of taste."  (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"People of the world cannot necessarily be considered good - let them think whatever they will." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"If the heart is not empty, it will not admit truthful words." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"If the right faith arises in your mind, you should train in Zen. If it does not arise, you should wait for awhile and reflect upon the fact that the Buddha Dharma did not become part of you long ago." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"If you think you can become enlightened just by worshipping images and relics, this is a mistaken view. This is actually possession by the poisonous serpent of temptation." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"If you would be free of greed, first you have to leave egotism behind. The best mental exercise for relinquishing egotism is contemplating impermanence." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"If you want to travel the Way of Buddhas and Zen masters, then expect nothing, seek nothing, and grasp nothing." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"The mind has no fixed characteristics; depending on circumstances, it may turn out any way at all." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"The practice of Buddhism depends on whether your teacher is right or wrong. The potentiality of the pupil is like good material, and the teacher is like the master of art. Even if the material is good, good work will not be produced without a good artisan. On the other hand, even a crooked piece of wood will immediately reveal the skill of workmanship in the hands of a good worker. This will testify to the fact that true or false satori (enlightenment) depends on the adequacy of the teacher." (Dogen Zenji, "Gakudo Yojinshu" ["Points to Watch in Practicing the Way"], cca. 13th century)

"There is fundamentally no good or bad in the human mind; good and bad arise according to circumstances." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"To study the Self is to forget the Self." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"Truth is not greater or lesser, but people are shallow or deep." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"What you think in your own mind to be good, or what people of the world think is good, is not necessarily good." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at once our original selves." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"When you see others’ errors and you want to guide them because you think they are wrong and you feel compassion for them, you should employ tact to avoid angering them, and contrive to appear as if you were talking about something else." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"Zazen is something which makes us want to sit in zazen." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

Week 2022-36: Takuan - Collected Quotes

"Consider the core of the mind to be a wagon, with will-power to be carried about in it. Push it to a place where there can be failure, and there will be failure. Push it to a place where there can be success, and there will be success. But whether there is success or failure, if one entrusts himself to the straightness of this wagon of the core of the mind, he will attain right-mindedness in either case. Severing oneself from desire and being like a rock or tree, nothing will ever be achieved. Not departing from desire, but realizing a desireless right-mindedness - this is the Way." (Takuan Soho)

"Conquer the self, and you will conquer the opponent." (Takuan Soho)

"Completely forget about the mind and you will do all things well." (Takuan Soho)

"When facing a single tree, if you look at a single one of its red leaves, you will not see all the others. When the eye is not set on one leaf, and you face the tree with nothing at all in mind, any number of leaves are visible to the eye without limit. But if a single leaf holds the eye, it will be as if the remaining leaves were not there." (Takuan Soho)

"If the mind is not restricted to just one direction, it will be in all ten." (Takuan Soho)

"No doubt you see the sword about to strike you, but do not let your mind “stop” there. Have no intention to counterattack him in response to his threatening move, cherish no calculating thoughts whatsoever. You simply perceive the opponent’s move, you do not allow your mind to “stop” with it, you move on just as you are toward the opponent and make use of his attack by turning it on to himself. Then his sword meant to kill you will become your own and the weapon will fall on the opponent himself."  (Takuan Soho)

"One is not likely to achieve understanding from the explanation of another." (Takuan Soho)

"One does not divine this by impressions or knowledge." What this means is that no matter how much you try to figure or calculate by means of impressions or knowledge, it will not prove the least bit useful. Therefore, separate yourself from the discrimination of figuring things out." (Takuan Soho)

"The Buddha and all sentient beings are not two." (Takuan Soho)

"When this No-Mind has been well developed, the mind does not stop with one thing nor does it lack any one thing. It appears appropriately when facing a time of need." (Takuan Soho)

"The art of the sword consists of never being concerned with victory or defeat, with strength or weakness, of not moving one step forward, nor one step backward, or the enemy not seeing me and my not seeing the enemy. Penetrating to that which is fundamental before the separation of heaven and earth where even yin and yang cannot reach, one instantly attains proficiency in the art." (Takuan)

"The mind should be nowhere in particular." (Takuan)

"The mind must always be in the state of 'flowing', for when it stops anywhere that means the flow is interrupted and it is this interruption that is injurious to the well-being of the mind. In the case of the swordsman, it means death." (Takuan)

"When the swordsman stands against his opponent, he is not to think of the opponent, nor of himself, nor of his enemy's sword movements. He just stands there with his sword which, forgetful of all technique, is ready only to follow the dictates of the unconscious. The man has effaced himself as the wielder of the sword. When he strikes, it is not the man but the sword in the hand of the unconscious that strikes." (Takuan)

"True Self is the Self that existed before the division of heaven and earth and before one's father and mother were born. This Self is the Self within me, the birds and the beasts, the grasses and the trees and all phenomena. It is excatly what is called 'Buddha Nature'.  
This Self has no shape or form, has no birth, has no death. It is not a Self that can be seen with the aid of your present physical eye. Only the (hu)man who has received enlightenment is able to see this. The (hu)man who does see this is said to have seen into her own nature and became a Buddha. It is to use neither thought nor reasoning and to look straight ahead." (Takuan Soho)

"We must know that it is not enough just to see what the Mind is, we must put into practice all that makes it up in our daily life. We may talk about it glibly, we may write books to explain it, but that is far from being enough. However much we may talk about water and describe it quite intelligently, that does not make it real water. So with fire. Mere talking of it will not make the mouth burn. To know what they are means to experience them in actual concreteness. A book on cooking will not cure our hunger. To feel satisfied we must have actual food. So long as we do not go beyond mere talking, we are not true knowers." (Takuan Soho)

"When a person does not think, 'Where shall I put it?' the mind will extend throughout the entire body and move to any place at all. [...] The effort not to stop the mind in just one place - this is discipline. Not stopping the mind is object and essence. Put it nowhere and it will be everywhere. Even in moving the mind outside the body, if it is sent in one direction, it will be lacking in nine others. If the mind is not restricted to just one direction, it will be in all ten." (Takuan Soho)

Week 2022-35: Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - Collected Quotes

"As long as you are a beginner certain formalised meditations, or prayers may be good for you. But for a seeker of reality there is only one meditation - the rigorous refusal to harbour thoughts. To be free from thoughts is itself meditation. You begin by letting thoughts flow and watching them. The very observation slows down the mind till it stops altogether. Once the mind is quiet, keep it quiet. Don't get bored with peace, be in it, go deeper into it." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"Of course, when there is total surrender, complete relinquishment of all concern with one's past, present and future, with one's physical and spiritual security and standing, a new life dawns, full of love and beauty; then the Master is not important, for the disciple has broken the shell of self-defense. Complete self-surrender by itself is liberation." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

 "The mind creates the abyss, and the heart crosses it." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"The primary purpose of meditation is to become conscious of, and familiar with, our inner life. The ultimate purpose is to reach the source of life and consciousness." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"The real world is beyond our thoughts and ideas; we see it through the net of our desires, divided into pleasure and pain, right and wrong, inner and outer. To see the universe as it is, you must step beyond the net. It is not hard to do so, for the net is full of holes." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"The seeker is he who is in search of himself." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"There is nothing to practice. To know yourself, be yourself. To be yourself, stop imagining yourself to be this or that. Just be. Let your true nature emerge. Don't disturb your mind with seeking." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

There is in the body a current of energy, affection and intelligence, which guides, maintains and energizes the body. Discover that current, and hold onto it unswervingly. Be aware of the spark of life that weaves the tissues of your body and stay with it. It is the only reality that the body has. It is like looking at a burning incense stick; you see the stick and the smoke first; when you notice the fiery point, you realize it has the power to consume mountains of sticks and fill the universe with smoke. Timelessly the Self actualizes itself, without exhausting its infinite possibilities. In the incense stick simile, the stick is the body, and the smoke is the mind. As long as the mind is busy with its contortions, it does not perceive its source. The Guru comes and turns your attention to the spark within."  (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"Truth is not a reward for good behaviour, nor a prize for passing some tests. It cannot be brought about. It is the primary, the unborn, the ancient source of all that is. You are eligible because you are. You need not merit truth. It is your own. [...] Stand still, be quiet." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"Whatever happens, happens to you, by you, through you; you are the creator, enjoyer and destroyer of all you perceive."  (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"When I look within and see that I am nothing, that is wisdom. When I look without and see that I am everything, that is love. And between these two, my life turns." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"When you sit quiet and watch yourself, many things may come to the surface. Do nothing about them, don't react to them. As they have come, so will they go." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"Wisdom is knowing I am nothing,
 love is knowing I am everything,
and between the two my life moves." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

Week 2022-34: Deepak Chopra - Collected Quotes

"Don't try to steer the river." (Deepak Chopra)

"Even when you think you have your life all mapped out, things happen that shape your destiny in ways you might never have imagined." (Deepak Chopra)

"Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future." (Deepak Chopra)

"Expectations determine outcomes. If you expect your mental and physical capacity to diminish with age, it probably will. If you have the expectation that you will grow younger and live longer, this will be your experience." (Deepak Chopra)

"In every act of perception we create the world," (Deepak Chopra)

"In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you." (Deepak Chopra)

"It helps if you remember that everyone is doing their best from their level of consciousness." (Deepak Chopra)

"One way to access the field is through the daily practice of silence, meditation, and non-judgment. Spending time in nature will also give you access to the qualities inherent in the field: infinite creativity, freedom, and bliss." (Deepak Chopra)

"Religion is belief is someone else's experience. Spirituality is having your own experience." (Deepak Chopra)

"Surrender is faith that the power of love can accomplish anything... even when you can not foresee the outcome." (Deepak Chopra)

"The best way to motivate other people to help you fulfill your goals is to help them fulfill their goals." (Deepak Chopra)

"The need for approval, the need to control things, and the need for external power are needs that are based on fear. When we experience the power of the Self, there is an absence of fear, there is no compulsion to control, and no struggle for approval or external power." (Deepak Chopra)

"The way you think about your body leads to the way you treat it. For people to shift their behavior toward self-care and heightened well-being, we don't need just compliance with standard prevention. There also has to be a drop in our addiction to drugs and surgery as the main approaches of medicine." (Deepak Chopra)

"There are many aspects to success; material wealth is only one component. But success also includes good health, energy and enthusiasm for life, fulfilling relationships, creative freedom, emotional and psychological stability, a sense of well-being, and peace of mind." (Deepak Chopra)

"There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle." (Deepak Chopra)

"Through silence, through meditation, and through non-judgment, you will access the first law, the Law of Pure Potentiality." (Deepak Chopra)

"We have to learn to go beyond both a positive mind and a negative mind to become a silent, nonjudgmental, non-analytical, non-interpretive mind. In other words, the silent witness. In the process of silent witnessing, we experience inner silence. In the purity of silence, we feel connected to our source and to everything else." (Deepak Chopra)

"Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution." (Deepak Chopra)

"You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible." (Deepak Chopra)

"You must learn to get in touch with the innermost essence of your being. This true essence is beyond the ego. It is fearless; it is free; it is immune to criticism; it does not fear any challenge. It is beneath no one, superior to no one, and full of magic, mystery, and enchantment." (Deepak Chopra)

Week 2022-33: Sir Francis Bacon - Collected Quotes

"[…] no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth […]" (Sir Francis Bacon, "Essays", 1597)

"God forbid that we should give out a dream of our own imagination for a pattern of the world." (Francis Bacon, "The Great Instauration", 1620)

"Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true." (Sir Francis Bacon, "Novum Organum", 1620)

"Man, as the minister and interpreter of nature, dies and understands as much as his observations on the order of nature, either with regard to things or the mind permit him, and neither knows or is capable of more." (Francis Bacon, "Novum Organum", 1620)

"No one has yet been found so firm of mind and purpose as resolutely to compel himself to sweep away all theories and common notions, and to apply the understanding, thus made fair and even, to a fresh examination of particulars. Thus it happens that human knowledge, as we have it, is a mere medley and ill-digested mass, made up of much credulity and much accident, and also of the childish notions which we at first imbibed." (Sir Francis Bacon, "Novum Organum" Book 2, 1620)

"The first and most ancient inquirers into truth were wont to throw their knowledge into aphorisms, or short, scattered, unmethodical sentences." (Sir Francis Bacon, "Novum Organum", 1620)

"The human mind is often so awkward and ill-regulated in the career of invention that is at first diffident, and then despises itself. For it appears at first incredible that any such discovery should be made, and when it has been made, it appears incredible that it should so long have escaped men’s research. All which affords good reason for the hope that a vast mass of inventions yet remains, which may be deduced not only from the investigation of new modes of operation, but also from transferring, comparing and applying those already known, by the methods of what we have termed literate experience." (Sir Francis Bacon, "Novum Organum", 1620)

"The human understanding resembles not a dry light, but admits a tincture of the will and passions, which generate their own system accordingly; for man always believes more readily that which he prefers." (Sir Francis Bacon, "Novum Organum", 1620)

"The end of our foundation is the knowledge of causes, and secret motions of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire, to the effecting of all things possible." (Francis Bacon, "New Atlantis", 1627)

"A prudent question is, as it were, one half of wisdom." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"Every act of discovery, advances the art of discovery." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"Great discoveries appear simple once they are made." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with 

doubts, he shall end in certainties." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"If a man’s wit be wandering, let him study mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"If we are to achieve results never before accomplished, we must expect to employ methods never before attempted." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"Make the time to come the disciple of the time past and not its servant." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"Man can only conquer nature by obeying her." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"Mere power and mere knowledge exalt human nature but do not bless it; we must gather from the whole store of things such as make most for the uses of life." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"That all things are changed, and that nothing really perishes, and that the sum of matter remains exactly the same, is sufficiently certain." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"The human understanding is of its own nature prone to abstractions and gives us a substance and reality to thing which are fleeting. But to resolve nature into abstractions is less to our purpose than to dissect her into parts." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"We are not to imagine or suppose, but to discover, what nature does or may be made to do." (Sir Francis Bacon)

"We do not arbitrarily give laws to the intellect or to other things, but as faithful scribes we receive and copy them from the revealed voice of Nature." (Sir Francis Bacon)

Week 2022-32: Carl von Clausewitz - Collected Quotes

"Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"Beauty cannot be defined by abscissas and ordinates; neither are circles and ellipses created by their geometrical formulas." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"It should be noted that the seeds of wisdom that are to bear fruit in the intellect are sown less by critical studies and learned monographs than by insights, broad impressions, and flashes of intuition." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"Our knowledge of circumstances has increased, but our uncertainty, instead of having diminished, has only increased. The reason of this is, that we do not gain all our experience at once, but by degrees; so our determinations continue to be assailed incessantly by fresh experience; and the mind, if we may use the expression, must always be under arms." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832) 

"[…] the conduct of war branches out in almost all directions and has no definite limits; while any system, any model, has the finite nature of a synthesis. An irreconcilable conflict exists between this type of theory and actual practice." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"The deduction of effect from cause is often blocked by some insuperable extrinsic obstacle: the true causes may be quite unknown." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"The function of theory is to put all this in systematic order, clearly and comprehensively, and to trace each action to an adequate, compelling cause. […] Theory should cast a steady light on all phenomena so that we can more easily recognize and eliminate the weeds that always spring from ignorance; it should show how one thing is related to another, and keep the important and the unimportant separate. If concepts combine of their own accord to form that nucleus of truth we call a principle, if they spontaneously compose a pattern that becomes a rule, it is the task of the theorist to make this clear." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"The insights gained and garnered by the mind in its wanderings among basic concepts are benefits that theory can provide. Theory cannot equip the mind with formulas for solving problems, nor can it mark the narrow path on which the sole solution is supposed to lie by planting a hedge of principles on either side. But it can give the mind insight into the great mass of phenomena and of their relationships, then leave it free to rise into the higher realms of action." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"The principle of polarity is valid only in relation to one and the same object, in which positive and negative interests exactly cancel one another out. […] When, however, we are dealing with two different things that have a common relation external to themselves, the polarity lies not in the things but in their relationship." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"[…] the role of determination is to limit the agonies of doubt and the perils of hesitation when the motives for action are inadequate." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"The state of crisis is the real war; the equilibrium is nothing but its reflex." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"The primary purpose of any theory is to clarify concepts and ideas that have become, as it were, confused and entangled. Not until terms and concepts have been defined can one hope to make any progress in examining the question clearly and simply and expect the reader to share one’s views." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"Theory becomes infinitely more difficult as soon as it touches the realm of moral values. Architects and painters know precisely what they are about as long as they deal with material phenomena. Mechanical and optical structures are not subject to dispute. But when they come to the aesthetics of their work, when they aim at a particular effect on the mind or on the senses, the rules dissolve into nothing but vague ideas." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"Truth in itself is rarely sufficient to make men act. Hence the step is always long from cognition to volition, from knowledge to ability. The most powerful springs of action in men lie in his emotions." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"War is the province of chance. in no other sphere of human activity must such a margin be left for this intruder. it increases the uncertainty of every circumstance and deranges the course of events." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

Week 2022-31: Benjamin Disraeli - Collected Quotes

 "It is remarkable that when great discoveries are effected, their simplicity always seems to detract from their originality: on these occasions we are reminded of the egg of Columbus!" (Benjamin Disraeli, "Curiosities of Literature" Vol. 3, 1824)

"Knowledge must be gained by ourselves. Mankind may supply us with facts; but the results, even if they agree with previous ones, must be the work of our own minds." (Benjamin Disraeli, "The Young Duke", 1831)

"Nature is more powerful than education; time will develop everything." (Benjamin Disraeli, "Contarini Fleming", 1832)

"What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens." (Benjamin Disraeli, "Henrietta Temple", 1837)

"Extreme views are never just; something always turns up which disturbs the calculations formed upon their data." (Benjamin Disraeli, 1847)

"As a general rule the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information." (Benjamin Disraeli, "Endymion", 1880)

"Imagination is too often accompanied by somewhat irregular logic." (Benjamin Disraeli, "Wit and Wisdom, Imagination", 1881)

"The world is devoted to physical science, because it believes theses discoveries will increase its capacity of luxury and self-indulgence. But the pursuit of science only leads to the insoluble. (Benjamin Disraeli, "Lothair", 1870)

"Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"Change is inevitable in a progressive society. Change is constant." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"Ignorance never settles a question." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creature of man. We are free agents, and man is more powerful than matter." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity, the most important thing in life is to know when to forgo an advantage." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"Nothing can resist a will which will stake even existence upon its fulfillment." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"Nothing in life is more remarkable than the unnecessary anxiety which we endure, and generally create ourselves." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"Nurture your minds with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"Philosophy becomes poetry, and science imagination, in the enthusiasm of genius." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own."  (Benjamin Disraeli)

"The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"The secret of success is constancy of purpose." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"There is no education like adversity." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"What art was to the ancient world, Science is to the modern; the distinctive faculty. In the minds of men, the useful has succeeded to the beautiful." (Benjamin Disraeli)

Week 2022-30: R Buckminster Fuller - Collected Quotes

"Education by choice, with its marvelous motivating psychology of desire for truth, will make life ever cleaner and happier, more rhythmical and artistic." (R Buckminster Fuller, "4D Timelock", 1928)

"Initiative can neither be created nor delegated. It can only spring from the self-determining individual, who decides that the wisdom of others is not always better than his own." (R Buckminster Fuller, "Utopia or oblivion: the prospects for humanity", 1963)

"A problem adequately stated is a problem well on its way to being solved." (R Buckminster Fuller, "I Seem to be a Verb", 1970)

"Lack of knowledge concerning all the factors and the failure to include them in our integral imposes false conclusions." (R Buckminster Fuller, "Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking", 1975)

"Nature is trying very hard to make us succeed, but nature does not depend on us. We are not the only experiment." (R Buckminster Fuller, [Interview in the Minneapolis Tribune] 1978)

"It seems that truth is progressive approximation in which the relative fraction of our spontaneously tolerated residual error constantly diminishes." (R Buckminster Fuller, "Humans in Universe", 1983)

"Again and again, step by step, intuition opens the doors that lead to man's designing." (R Buckminster Fuller)

"Change the environment; do not try to change man." (R Buckminster Fuller)

"Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons." (R Buckminster Fuller)

"The one common experience of all humanity is the challenge of problems." (R Buckminster Fuller)

"Whatever humans have learned had to be learned as a consequence only of trial and error experience. Humans have learned only through mistakes." (R Buckminster Fuller)

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." (R Buckminster Fuller)

Week 2022-29: On Extremes (Quotes)

So sometimes things are ahead and sometimes they are behind;
Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes easily; 
Sometimes there is strength and sometimes weakness; 
Sometimes one is up and sometimes down. 
Therefore the sage avoids extremes, excesses, and complacency." (Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching", cca 5th century BC)

"Let him know how to choose the mean and avoid the extremes on either side, as far as possible, not only in this life but in all that which is to come. [...] For this is the way of happiness." (Plato, "The Republic", cca. 375 BC)

"Both Self-restraint and Unrestraint are a matter of extremes as compared with the character of the mass of mankind; the restrained man shows more and the unrestrained man less steadfastness than most men are capable of." (Aristotle, "The Nicomachean Ethics", 4th century)

"Education and study, and the favors of the muses, confer no greater benefit on those that seek them than these humanizing and civilizing lessons, which teach our natural qualities to submit to the limitations prescribed by reason, and to avoid the wildness of extremes." (Plutarch, "Plutarch's Lives", 2nd century)

"Our senses will not admit anything extreme. Too much noise confuses us, too much light dazzles us, too great distance or nearness prevents vision, too great prolixity or brevity weakens an argument, too much pleasure gives pain, too much accordance annoys." (Blaise Pascal, "Pensées", 1670)

"Extreme positions are not succeeded by moderate ones, but by contrary extreme positions." (Friedrich Nietzsche, "The Will to Power", 1901)

"The mind can go either direction under stress - toward positive or toward negative: on or off. Think of it as a spectrum whose extremes are unconsciousness at the negative end and hyperconsciousness at the positive end. The way the mind will lean under stress is strongly influenced by training." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"Sanity lies somewhere between the inhibitions of conventional morality and the looseness of the extreme impulse." (Chögyam Trungpa, "The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation", 1976)

"In extreme situations, the entire universe becomes our foe; at such critical times, unity of mind and technique is essential - do not let your heart waver!" (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"The middle way cannot be achieved by dividing two extremes in half." (Eric Maisel, "Affirmations for Artists", 1996)

"A balanced and skillful approach to life, taking care to avoid extremes, becomes a very important factor in conducting one's everyday existence." (Tenzin Gyatso [14th Dalai Lama], "The Art of Happiness", 1998)

"To hope under the most extreme circumstances is an act of defiance that permits a person to live his life on his own terms. It is part of the human spirit to endure and give a miracle a chance to happen." (Jerome Groopman, "The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness", 2003)

Week 2022-28: Morihei Ueshiba - Collected Quotes

"True Budo is done for the sake of 'building peace'. Train every day so as to make peace between this spirit [Budo] and all things manifested on the face of the Earth." (Morihei Ueshiba, "Budo Training in Aikido", 1933)

"True Budo is practiced not only to destroy an enemy, it must also make him, or his own will, gladly lose his spirit (seishin) to oppose you." (Morihei Ueshiba, "Budo Training in Aikido", 1933)

"Always imagine yourself on the battlefield under the fiercest attack; never forget this crucial element of training." (Morihei Ueshiba, "Budo", 1938)

"Regarding technique, from ancient times it has been said that movements must fly like lightning and attacks must strike like thunder." (Morihei Ueshiba, "Budo", 1938)

"When facing the realm of life and death in the form of an enemy's sword, one must be firmly settled in mind and body, and not at all intimidated." (Morihei Ueshiba, "Budo", 1938)

"The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood. It is not a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek to compete and better one another are making a terrible mistake." (Morihei Ueshiba, 1942)

"A warrior is always engaged in a life-and-death struggle for Peace." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"As soon as you concern yourself with the 'good' and 'bad' of your fellows, you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter. Testing, competing with, and criticizing others weakens and defeats you." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"Each day of human life contains joy and anger, pain and pleasure, darkness and light, growth and decay. Each moment is etched with nature's grand design - do not try to deny or oppose the cosmic order of things." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"Even the most powerful human being has a limited sphere of strength. Draw him outside of that sphere and into your own, and his strength will dissipate." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"Foster peace in your own life and then apply the Art to all that you encounter." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"In extreme situations, the entire universe becomes our foe; at such critical times, unity of mind and technique is essential - do not let your heart waver!" (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"In our techniques we enter completely into, blend totally with, and control firmly an attack. Strength resides where one's ki is concentrated and stable; confusion and maliciousness arise when ki stagnates." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"Instructors can impart only a fraction of the teaching. It is through your own devoted practice that the mysteries of the Art of Peace are brought to life." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"It is necessary to develop a strategy that utilizes all the physical conditions and elements that are directly at hand. The best strategy relies upon an unlimited set of responses." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"The Art of Peace is the principle of nonresistance. Because it is nonresistant, it is victorious from the beginning." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"The Art of Peace is not easy. It is a fight to the finish, the slaying of evil desires and all falsehood within. On occasion the Voice of Peace resounds like thunder, jolting human beings out of their stupor." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"The real Art of Peace is not to sacrifice a single one of your warriors to defeat an enemy. Vanquish your foes by always keeping yourself in a safe and unassailable position; then no one will suffer any losses. The Way of a Warrior, the Art of Politics, is to stop trouble before it starts. It consists in defeating your adversaries spiritually by making them realize the folly of their actions. The Way of a Warrior is to establish harmony." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"To injure an opponent is to injure yourself. To control aggression without inflicting injury is the Art of Peace." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"Vanquish your foes by always keeping yourself in a safe and unassailable position; then no one will suffer any losses." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"Water, by its nature, never collides with or breaks against anything. On the contrary, it swallows up any attack harmlessly." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"When you bow deeply to the universe, it bows back; when you call out the name of God, it echoes inside you." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind." (Morihei Ueshiba) 

"Budo is not about destroying other human beings with one’s strength or weapons, or annihilating the world by force of arms. True budo is channeling the universal energy (ki) to protect world peace, to engender all things fittingly, nurture them and save them from harm." (Morihei Ueshiba) 

"Budo training is to protect all things and nurture the power of unconditional divine love within" (Morihei Ueshiba) 

"It is a grave mistake to think that budo is about being stronger than your partner or opponent and that you have to defeat him. In true budo, there is no partner. Th ere is no enemy. True budo is to become one with the universe. It is to be united with the universe’s center. In aikido, we do not train to become strong or to defeat opponents, but to make even a small contribution to peace for all people in the world. To that purpose we must strive to harmonize with the center of the universe." (Morihei Ueshiba)

"Kicking leaves you momentarily on one foot, and for that moment you are in a very weak position. If you were to be swept off your feet, you would be finished. This is why lifting your feet off the ground is crazy." (Morihei Ueshiba)

"There are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing. Defeat means to defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within." (Morihei Ueshiba)

"The Way of a Warrior cannot be encompassed by words or in letters: grasp the essence and move on toward realization!" (Morihei Ueshiba)

"The Way of a Warrior is based on humanity, love, and sincerity; the heart of martial valor is true bravery, wisdom, love, and friendship. Emphasis on the physical aspects of warriorship is futile, for the power of the body is always limited." (Morihei Ueshiba)

"The way of a warrior is not to kill and destroy but to foster life, to continually create." (Morihei Ueshiba)

"True budo is to discipline the self and to lose the will to fight  [...] It is to lose all enemies, and is an absolute path for self-completion. The martial techniques provide discipline for the journey of uniting the spirit and the body through channeling the laws of heaven. Techniques provide the medium for ‘Way’." (Morihei Ueshiba)

Week 2023-28: Pai-chang - Collected Quotes

"All the verbal teachings point to the inherent nature of the immediate mirroring awareness. As long as this is not affected by anything, existent or otherwise, it is your guide. It can shine through all realms, whether they exist or not." (Pai-chang)

"Attainment by causes and conditions, practice and realization, is called the outward view." (Pai-chang)

"Don’t use concentration to enter concentration, don’t use meditation to think of meditation, don’t use Buddha to search for Buddhahood." (Pai-chang)

"If you do not understand that mind itself is Buddha, you are as if riding a donkey in search of a donkey. If you do not hate or love anything, this affliction should disappear." (Pai-chang)

"It is like the water of the ocean: even without wind there are waves everywhere. Suddenly knowing of the waves all around is the gross within the subtle; letting go of knowledge in the midst of knowing is like the subtle within the subtle. This is the sphere of the enlightened." (Pai-chang)

"Just detach from all sound and form, but do not dwell in detachment, and do not dwell in intellectual interpretation - this is practice." (Pai-chang)

"Just understand that things do not originate of themselves. All of them come into existence from your own single mental impulse of imagination mistakenly clinging to appearances." (Pai-chang)

"The nature of wisdom is such as it is of itself; it is not disposed by causes. It is also called the knot of essence, or the cluster of essence. It is not known by knowledge, not discerned by consciousness. It is entirely beyond mental calculation. Still and silent, essence totally realized, thought and judgment are forever ended. Just as if the flow of the ocean had stopped, waves do not rise again." (Pai-chang)

"When mental involvement in purity and impurity is ended, the mind does not dwell in bondage or liberation; it has no mindfulness of striving or nonstriving, or of bondage or liberation." (Pai-chang)

Week 2022-27: Bruce Lee - Collected Quotes

"A fight is not won by one punch or kick. Either learn to endure or hire a bodyguard." (Bruce Lee)

"A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at." (Bruce Lee)

"A good fight should be like a small play...but played seriously. When the opponent expands, l contract. When he contracts, l expand. And when there is an opportunity... l do not hit...it hits all by itself." (Bruce Lee)

"A good martial artist puts his mind on one thing at a time. He takes each thing as it comes, finishes with it, and passes on to the next." (Bruce Lee)

"A good JKD man does not oppose force or give way completely. He is pliable as a spring; he is the complement and not the opposition to his opponent’s strength. He has no technique; he makes his opponent's technique his technique. He has no design; he makes opportunity his design." (Bruce Lee)

"A good martial artist does not become tend but ready, not thinking but jet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come." (Bruce lee)

"A good martial artist puts his mind on one thing at a time. He takes each thing as it comes, finishes with it, and passes on to the next. Like a Zen master, he is not concerned with the past or the future, only with what he is doing at that moment. Because his mind is tight, he is calm and able to maintain strength in reserve. And then there will be room for only one thought, which will fill his entire being as water fills a pitcher. You wasted an enormous amount of energy because you did not localize and focus your mind. Always remember: in life as well as on the mat an unfocused or 'loose' mind wastes energy." (Bruce Lee)

"A good teacher protects his pupils from his own influence." (Bruce Lee)

"A martial artist who drills exclusively to a set pattern of combat is losing his freedom. He is actually becoming a slave to a choice pattern and feels that the pattern is the real thing. It leads to stagnation because the way of combat is never based on personal choice and fancies, but constantly changes from moment to moment, and the disappointed combatant will soon find out that his 'choice routine' lacks pliability. There must be a 'being' instead of a 'doing' in training. One must be free. Instead of complexity of form, there should be simplicity of expression." (Bruce Lee)

"A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough. " (Bruce Lee)

"A teacher is never a giver of truth; he is a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself." (Bruce Lee)

"A teacher must never impose this student to fit his favourite pattern; a good teacher functions as a pointer, exposing his student's vulnerability (and) causing him to explore both internally and finally integrating himself with his being. Martial art should not be passed out indiscriminately." (Bruce Lee)

"A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer." (Bruce Lee)

"Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own." (Bruce Lee)

"Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own." (Bruce Lee)

"Again let me remind you Jeet Kune Do is just a name used, a boat to get one across, and once across it is to be discarded and not to be carried on one's back." (Bruce Lee)

"All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns." (Bruce Lee)

"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it." (Bruce Lee)

"Any technique, however worthy and desirable, becomes a disease when the mind is obsessed with it." (Bruce Lee)

"Art calls for complete mastery of techniques, developed by reflection within the soul." (Bruce Lee)

"Art is the expression of the self. The more complicated and restricted the method, the less the opportunity for expression of one's original sense of freedom. Though they play an important role in the early stage, the techniques should not be too mechanical, complex or restrictive. If we cling blindly to them, we shall eventually become bound by their limitations. Remember, you are expressing the techniques and not doing the techniques. If somebody attacks you, your response is not Technique No.1, Stance No. 2, Section 4, Paragraph 5. Instead you simply move in like sound and echo, without any deliberation. It is as though when I call you, you answer me, or when I throw you something, you catch it. It's as simple as that — no fuss, no mess. In other words, when someone grabs you, punch him. To me a lot of this fancy stuff is not functional." (Bruce Lee)

"Art lives where absolute freedom is because when it is not, there can be no creativity." (Bruce Lee)

"Art requires imagination. It requires Creativity. Creativity requires experience and experience comes from your life. And your life is expressed in your art." (Bruce Lee)

"As long as I can remember I feel I have had this great creative and spiritual force within me that is greater than faith, greater than ambition, greater than confidence, greater than determination, greater than vision. It is all these combined. My brain becomes magnetized with this dominating force which I hold in my hand." (Bruce Lee)

"As you think, so shall you become." (Bruce Lee)

"At least empty your cup and try." (Bruce Lee)

"Be a practical dreamer backed by action." (Bruce Lee)

"Be happy, but never satisfied." (Bruce Lee)

"Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves." (Bruce Lee)

"Be self aware, rather than a repetitious robot " (Bruce Lee)

"Before I studied the art, a punch to me was just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick no longer a kick. Now that I've understood the art, a punch is just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. The height of cultivation is really nothing special. It is merely simplicity; the ability to express the utmost with the minimum. It is the halfway cultivation that leads to ornamentation. Jeet Kune-Do is basically a sophisticated fighting style stripped to its essentials." (Bruce Lee)

"Boards don't hit back." (Bruce Lee)

"But in classical styles, system becomes more important than the man! The classical man functions with a pattern of style." (Bruce Lee , "Tao of Jeet kune Do")

"Classical forms dull your creativity, condition and freeze your sense of freedom. You no longer ‘be’ but merely ‘do’ without sensitivity." (Bruce Lee , "Tao of Jeet kune Do")

"Defeat is a state of mind. No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality. To me, defeat in anything is merely temporary, and its punishment is but an urge for me to greater effort to achieve my goal. Defeat simply tells me that something is wrong in my doing; it is a path leading to success and truth." (Bruce Lee)

"Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as a reality-in your own mind." (Bruce Lee)

"Do not be tense, just be ready, not thinking but not dreaming, not being set but being flexible. It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come." (Bruce Lee)

"Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there." (Bruce Lee)

"Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one." (Bruce Lee)

"Do not run away; let go. Do not seek, for it will come when least expected." (Bruce Lee)

"Don't fear failure. - Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail." (Bruce Lee)

"Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water." (Bruce Lee)

"Efficiency in sparring and fighting is not a matter of correct classical, traditional form. Efficiency is anything that scores. Creating fancy forms and classical sets to replace sparring is like trying to wrap and tie a pound of water into a manageable shape of paper sack. For something that is static, fixed, dead, there can be a way or a definite path; but not for anything that is moving and living. In sparring there's no exact path or method, but instead a perceptive, pliable, choice-less awareness. It lives from moment to moment." (Bruce Lee)

"Eliminate "not clear" thinking and function from your root." (Bruce Lee)

"Empty your cup so that it may be filled; become devoid to gain totality." (Bruce Lee)

"Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend." (Bruce Lee)

"Eventually, you learn to read groups of words. Where a student will see three motions, the experienced man will see one, because he sees the overall energy path." (Bruce Lee)

"Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential." (Bruce Lee)

"Everything you do, if not in a relaxed state will be done at a lesser level than you are proficient. Thus the tensed expert marksman will aim at a level less than his/her student." (Bruce Lee)

"Finally, a Jeet Kune Do man who says Jeet Kune Do is exclusively Jeet Kune Do is simply not with it. He is still hung up on his self-closing resistance, in this case anchored down to reactionary pattern, and naturally is still bound by another modified pattern and can move within its limits. He has not digested the simple fact that truth exists outside all molds; pattern and awareness is never exclusive." (Bruce Lee)

"For it is easy to criticize and break down the spirit of others, but to know yourself takes a lifetime." (Bruce Lee)

"Forget about winning and losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life. Do not be concerned with escaping safely - lay your life before him." (Bruce Lee)

"Give up thinking as though not giving it up. Observe techniques as though not observing." (Bruce Lee)

"How many times have I told you both to concentrate all the energy of the body and mind on one specific target or goal at a time. The secret of kime (tightening the mind) is to exclude all extraneous thoughts, thoughts that are not concerned with achieving your immediate goal." (Bruce Lee)

"I am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged. I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I have come to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized. I am happy because I am growing daily and I am honestly not knowing where the limit lies. To be certain, every day there can be a revelation or a new discovery. I treasure the memory of the past misfortunes. It has added more to my bank of fortitude." (Bruce Lee)

"I am not teaching you anything. I just help you to explore yourself." (Bruce Lee)

"I believe in having a few pupils at one time as it requires a constant alert observation of each individual in order to establish a direct relationship. A good teacher can never be fixed in a routine... each moment requires a sensitive mind that is constantly changing and constantly adapting." (Bruce Lee)

"I believe that the only way to teach anyone proper self-defence is to approach each individual personally. Each one of us is different and each one of us should be taught the correct form. By correct form I mean the most useful techniques the person is inclined toward. Find his ability and then develop these techniques. I don't think it is important whether a side kick is performed with the heel higher than the toes, as long as the fundamental principle is not violated. Most classical martial arts training is a mere imitative repetition - a product - and individuality is lost." (Bruce Lee)

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." (Bruce Lee)

"I have not invented a 'new style', composite, modified or otherwise that is set within distinct form as apart from 'this' method or 'that' method. On the contrary, I hope to free my followers from clinging to styles, patterns, or molds. Remember that Jeet Kune Do is merely a name used, a mirror in which to see 'ourselves'. [...] Jeet Kune Do is not an organized institution that one can be a member of. Either you understand or you don't, and that is that." (Bruce Lee)

"I hope martial artists are more interested in the root of martial arts and not the different decorative branches, flowers or leaves." (Bruce Lee)

"I refer to my hands, feet and body as the tools of the trade. The hands and feet must be sharpened and improved daily to be efficient." (Bruce Lee)

"I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine." (Bruce Lee)

"If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Moving, be like water. Still, be like a mirror. Respond like an echo." (Bruce Lee)

"If there is a God, he is within. You don't ask God to give you things, you depend on God for your inner theme." (Bruce Lee)

"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." (Bruce Lee)

"If you don't want to slip up tomorrow, speak the truth today." (Bruce Lee)

"If you follow the classical pattern, you are understanding the routine, the tradition, the shadow - you are not understanding yourself." (Bruce Lee , "Tao of Jeet kune Do")

"If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of." (Bruce Lee)

"If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done." (Bruce Lee)

"If you want to do your duty properly, you should do just a little more than that." (Bruce Lee)

"If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you." (Bruce Lee)

"I'll give you my secret for ridding my mind of negative | thoughts. When such a thought enters my mind, I visualize it as being written on a piece of paper. Then I visualize myself wadding the paper up into a tight ball. Then I mentally light it on fire and visualize it burning to a crisp. The negative thought is destroyed, never to enter my mind again." (Bruce Lee)

"I'm moving and not moving at all. I'm like the moon underneath the waves that ever go on rolling and rocking. It is not, 'I am doing this', but rather, an inner realization that 'this is happening through me," or "it is doing this for me.' The consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action." (Bruce Lee)

"I'm not a master, I'm a student-master, meaning that I have the knowledge of a master and the expertise of a master, but I'm still learning, So I'm a student-master. I don't believe in the word master, I consider the master as such when they close the casket." (Bruce Lee)

"In building a statue, a sculptor doesn't keep adding clay to his subject. Actually, he keeps chiselling away at the inessentials until the truth of its creation is revealed without obstructions. Thus, contrary to other styles, being wise in Jeet Kune-Do doesn't mean adding more; it means to minimize, in other words to hack away the unessential." (Bruce Lee)

"In combat, spontaneity rules; rote performance of technique perishes." (Bruce Lee)

"In Jeet Kune-Do, physical conditioning is a must for all martial artists. If you are not physically fit, you have no business doing any hard sparring. To me, the best exercise for this is running. Running is so important that you should keep it up during your lifetime. What time of the day you run is not important as long as you run. In the beginning you should jog easily and then gradually increase the distance and tempo, and finally include sprints to develop your 'wind.'" (Bruce Lee)

"In JKD, one does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity." (Bruce Lee)

"In primary freedom, one utilizes all ways and is bound by none, and likewise uses any techniques or means which serves one's end. Efficiency is anything that scores." (Bruce Lee)

"Into a soul absolutely free from thoughts and emotion, even the tiger finds no room to insert its fierce claws." (Bruce Lee)

"It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come." (Bruce Lee)

"It is like a finger pointing toward the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory." (Bruce Lee)

"It is true that the mental aspect of kung-fu is the desired end; however, to achieve this end, technical skill must come first." (Bruce Lee)

"Jeet Kune Do is training and discipline towards the ultimate reality in combat. Jeet Kune-Do is the only non-classical style of Chinese Kung Fu in existence today. It is simple in its execution, although not so simple to explain. Jeet means "to stop, to stem, to intercept," while Kune means "fist" or "style," and Do means "the way" or "the ultimate reality." In other words — "The Way of the Intercepting Fist." (Bruce Lee)

"Jeet Kune-Do is the only non-classical style of Chinese Kung Fu in existence today. It is simple in its execution, although not so simple to explain. Jeet means 'to stop, to stem, to intercept,' while Kune means 'fist' or 'style,' and Do means 'the way' or 'the ultimate reality.' In other words--'The Way of the Intercepting Fist.'" (Bruce Lee)

"Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do." (Bruce Lee)

"Knowledge in martial arts actually means self-knowledge. A martial artist has to take responsibility for himself and accept the consequences of his own doing. The understanding of JKD is through personal feeling from movement to movement in the mirror of the relationship and not through a process of isolation. To be is to be related. To isolate is death. To me, ultimately, martial arts means honestly expressing yourself. Now, it is very difficult to do. It has always been very easy for me to put on a show and be cocky, and be flooded with a cocky feeling and feel pretty cool and all that. I can make all kinds of phoney things. Blinded by it. Or I can show some really fancy movement. But to experience oneself honestly, not lying to oneself, and to express myself honestly, now that, my friend, is very hard to do." (Bruce Lee)

"Knowledge will give you power, but character, respect." (Bruce Lee)

"Learn the principle, abide by the principle, and dissolve the principle. In short, enter a mold without being caged in it. Obey the principle without being bound by it. Learn, master, and achieve!" (Bruce Lee)

"Let an opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let an opponent smash into your flesh and you fracture his bone; let an opponent fracture your bone and you take his life! Do not be concerned with your escaping safely; lay your life before him!" (Bruce Lee)

"Let him smash your flesh, and you fracture his bone. Let him fracture your bone, and you take his life. Lay your life before him." (Bruce Lee)

"Let me give you a bit of warning: just because you get very good at your training it should not go to your head that you are an expert. Remember, actual sparring is the ultimate, and the training is, only a means toward this. Besides running, one should also do exercises for the stomach - sit-ups, leg raises, etc. Too often one of those big-belly masters will tell you that his internal power has sunk to his stomach; he's not kidding, it is sunk and gone! To put it bluntly, he is nothing but fat and ugly." (Bruce Lee)

"Let the spirit out - Discard all thoughts of reward, all hopes of praise and fears of blame, all awareness of one's bodily self. And, finally closing the avenues of sense perception, let the spirit out, as it will." (Bruce Lee)

"Liberation from the uneasy sense of confinement." (Bruce Lee)

"Like everyone else you want to learn the way to win, but never to accept the way to lose — to accept defeat. To learn to die is to be liberated from it. So when tomorrow comes you must free your ambitious mind and learn the art of dying!" (Bruce Lee)

"Love is friendship caught on fire." (Bruce Lee)

"Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable." (Bruce Lee)

"Man can not fly, Maybe, but we'll try," (Bruce Lee)

"Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system." (Bruce Lee)

"Many people dedicate their lives to actualizing a concept of what they should be like, rather than actualizing themselves. This difference between self-actualization and self-image actualization is very important. Most people live only for their image." (Bruce Lee)

"Mere technical knowledge is only the beginning of Kung Fu, to master it, one must enter into the spirit of it." ( Bruce Lee ) (Bruce Lee)

"Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them." (Bruce Lee)

"mushin, which literally means 'no-mind.' According to the Zen masters, mushin is operating when the actor is separate from the act and no thoughts interfere with action because the unconscious act is the most free and uninhibited. When mushin functions, the mind moves from one activity to another, flowing like a stream of water and filling every space." (Bruce Lee)

"My friend, drop all your preconceived and fixed ideas and be neutral. Do you know why this cup is useful? Because it is empty." (Bruce Lee)

"Not being tense, but ready.
Not thinking, but not dreaming.
Not being set, but flexible.
Liberation from the uneasy sense of confinement.
It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert,
Ready for whatever may come."" (Bruce Lee)"

"Nothingness cannot be defined; the softest thing cannot be snapped." (Bruce Lee)

"Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind." (Bruce Lee)

"Obey the principles without being bound by them." (Bruce Lee)

"One should not respond to circumstance with artificial and wooden prearrangement. Your action should be like the immediacy of a shadow adapting to its moving object. Your task is simply to complete the other half of the oneness spontaneously." (Bruce Lee)

"Out of chaos, find simplicity, From discord, find harmony." (Bruce Lee)

"Please do not be concerned with soft versus firm, kicking versus striking, grappling versus hitting and kicking, long-range fighting versus infighting. There is no such thing as 'this' is better than 'that'. Should there be one thing we must guard against, let it be partiality that robs us of our pristine wholeness and make us lose unity in the midst of duality." (Bruce Lee)

"Practice all movements slow and fast, soft and hard; the effectiveness of Jeet Kune-Do depends on split-second timing and reflexive action, which can be achieved only through repetitious practice." (Bruce Lee)

"Put every great teacher together in a room, and they'd agree about everything; put their disciples in there and they'd argue about everything." (Bruce Lee)

"Real living is living for others." (Bruce Lee)

"Self-knowledge involves relationship. To know oneself is to study one self in action with another person. Relationship is a process of self evaluation and self revelation. Relationship is the mirror in which you discover yourself - to be is to be related." (Bruce Lee)

"Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory." (Bruce Lee)

"Simplicity is the key to brilliance." (Bruce Lee)

"Sorrows are our best educator. A man can see further through a tear than a telescope." (Bruce Lee)

"Styles tend to not only separate men - because they have their own doctrines and then the doctrine became the gospel truth that you cannot change. But if you do not have a style, if you just say: Well, here I am as a human being, how can I express myself totally and completely? Now, that way you won't create a style, because style is a crystallization. That way, it's a process of continuing growth." (Bruce Lee)

"Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against. " (Bruce Lee)

"Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick." (Bruce Lee)

"The combatant should be alive in sparring, throwing punches and kicks from all angles, and should not be a co-operative robot. Like water, sparring should be formless. Pour water into a cup, it becomes part of the cup. Pour it into a bottle; it becomes part of the bottle. Try to kick or punch it, it is resilient; clutch it and it will yield without hesitation. In fact, it will escape as pressure is being applied to it." (Bruce Lee)

"The consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action. There is no fixed teaching. All I can provide is an appropriate medicine for a particular ailment." (Bruce Lee)

"The danger of training with the heavy bag is that it doesn't react to one’s attack and sometimes there is a tendency to thoughtlessness. One will punch the bag carelessly, and would be vulnerable in a real situation if this became a habit." (Bruce Lee)

"The first rule is to keep yourself well covered at all times and never leave yourself open while sparring around the bag. By all means use your footwork — side stepping, feinting, varying your kicks and blows to the bag. Do not shove or flick at it. Explode through it and remember that the power of the kick and punch comes from the correct contact at the right spot and at the right moment with the body in perfect position; not, as many people think, from the vigor with which the kicks or blows are delivered." (Bruce Lee)

"The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment. " (Bruce Lee)

"The height of cultivation runs to simplicity. Halfway cultivation runs to ornamentation." (Bruce Lee)

"The highest technique is to have no technique. My technique is a result of your technique; my movement is a result of your movement. A good JKD man does not oppose force or give way completely. He is pliable as a spring; he is the complement and not the opposition to his opponent’s strength. He has no technique; he makes his opponent's technique his technique. He has no design; he makes opportunity his design. One should not respond to circumstance with artificial and "wooden" prearrangement. Your action should be like the immediacy of a shadow adapting to its moving object. Your task is simply to complete the other half of the oneness spontaneously." (Bruce Lee)

"The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering." (Bruce Lee)

"The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be." (Bruce Lee)

"The main characteristic JKD is the absence of the usual classical passive blocking. Blocking is the least efficient. Jeet Kune-Do is offensive; it's alive and it's free." (Bruce Lee)

"The meaning of life is that it is to be lived, and it is not to be traded and conceptualized and squeezed into a patter of systems" (Bruce Lee)

"The mind is like a fertile garden. It will grow anything you wish to plant - beautiful flowers or weeds. And so it is with successful, healthy thoughts or with negative ones that will, like weeds, strangle and crowd the others. Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind for they are the weeds that strangle confidence." (Bruce Lee)

"The more relaxed the muscles are, the more energy can flow through the body. Using muscular tensions to try to 'do' the punch, or attempting to use brute force to knock someone over, will only work to opposite effect." (Bruce Lee)

"The old-fashioned punching speed bag teaches you to hit straight and square; if you don't hit it straight the bag will not return directly to you. Besides learning footwork, you can hit the bag upward too. Another important function is that after the delivery of the punch, the bag will return instantaneously and this will teach you to be alert and to recover quickly. The bag should not be hit in a rhythmic motion but instead in a broken rhythm. Actually fight the bag as if it is your opponent." (Bruce Lee)

"The past is an illusion. You must learn to live in the present and accept yourself for what you are now. What you lack in flexibility and agility you must make up with knowledge and constant practice." (Bruce Lee)

"The perfect way is only difficult for those who pick and choose. Do not like, do not dislike; all will then be clear. Make a hairbreadth difference and heaven and earth are set apart; if you want the truth to stand clear before you, never be for or against. The struggle between "for" and "against" is the mind's worst disease." (Bruce Lee)

"The point is doing of them rather than the accomplishments. There is no actor but the action; there is no experiencer but the experience." (Bruce Lee)

"The possession of anything begins in the mind." (Bruce Lee)

"The secret of kime (tightening the mind) is to exclude all extraneous thoughts, thoughts that are not concerned with achieving your immediate goal." (Bruce Lee)

"The spirit of the individual is determined by his dominating thought habits. " (Bruce Lee)

"The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness; only when there is stillness in movement does the universal rhythm manifest. " (Bruce Lee)

"The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus." (Bruce Lee)

"The techniques, though they play an important role in the early stage, should not be too restrictive, complex or mechanical. If we cling to them, we will become bound by their limitation. Remember, you are expressing the technique, and not doing Technique number two, Stance three, Section four?" (Bruce Lee)

"The void is no mere emptiness, but is real, free and existing. It is the source from which all things arise and return. It cannot be seen, touched or known, yet it exists and is freely used. It has no shape, size, colour or form, and yet all that we see, hear, feel and touch is "it". It is beyond intellectual knowing and cannot be grasped by the ordinary mind. When we suddenly awake to the realization that there is no barrier, and has never been seen, one realizes that one is all things, mountains, rivers, grasses, trees, sun, moon, stars, universe are all oneself. There is no longer a division or barrier between myself and others, no longer any feeling of alienation or fear. Realizing this, results in true compassion. Other people and things are not seen as apart from oneself, on the contrary, as one's own body." (Bruce Lee)

"There is no fixed teaching. All I can provide is an appropriate medicine for a particular ailment." (Bruce Lee)

"There is no mystery about my style. My movements are simple, direct and non-classical. The extraordinary part of it lies in its simplicity. Every movement in Jeet Kune-Do is being so of itself. There is nothing artificial about it. I always believe that the easy way is the right way. Jeet Kune-Do is simply the direct expression of one's feelings with the minimum of movements and energy. The closer to the true way of Kung Fu, the less wastage of expression there is." (Bruce Lee)

"There is nothing better than free-style sparring in the practice of any combative art. In sparring you should wear suitable protective equipment and go all out. Then you can truly learn the correct timing and distance for the delivery of the kicks, punches, etc. It is a good idea to spar with all types of individuals--tall, short, fast, clumsy. Yes, at times a clumsy fellow will mess up a better man because his awkwardness serves as a sort of broken rhythm. The best sparring partner, though, is a quick, strong man who does not know anything; a madman who goes all out, scratching, grabbing, grappling, punching, kicking, and so on." (Bruce Lee)

"This statement expresses my feelings perfectly: 'In memory of a once fluid man, crammed and distorted by the classical mess.'" (Bruce Lee)

"Time means a lot to me because you see I am also a learner and am often lost in the joy of forever developing." (Bruce Lee)

"To express yourself in freedom you must die to everything of yesterday." (Bruce Lee)

"To generate great power you must first totally relax and gather your strength, and then concentrate your mind and all your strength on hitting your target." (Bruce Lee)

"To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities." (Bruce Lee)

"To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person." (Bruce Lee)

"To me totality is very important in sparring. Many styles claim this totality. They say that they can cope with all types of attacks; that their structures cover all the possible lines and angles, and are capable of retaliation from all angles and lines. If this is true, then how did all the different styles come about? If they are in totality, why do some use only the straight lines, others the round lines, some only kicks, and why do still others who want to be different just flap and flick their hands? To me a system that clings to one small aspect of combat is actually in bondage." (Bruce Lee)

"To me, the extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity. The easy way is also the right way, and martial arts is nothing at all special; the closer to the true way of martial arts, the less wastage of expression there is." (Bruce Lee)

"To reach the masses, some sort of big organization (whether) domestic and foreign branch affiliation, is not necessary. To reach the growing number of students, some sort of pre-conformed set must be established as standards for the branch to follow. As a result all members will be conditioned according to the prescribed system. Many will probably end up as a prisoner of a systematized drill." (Bruce Lee)

"Too much horsing around with unrealistic stances and classic forms and rituals is just too artificial and mechanical, and doesn't really prepare the student for actual combat. A guy could get clobbered while getting into this classical mess. Classical methods like these, which I consider a form of paralysis, only solidify and constrain what was once fluid. Their practitioners are merely blindly rehearsing routines and stunts that will lead nowhere." (Bruce Lee)

"Truth has no path. Truth is living and, therefore, changing. Awareness is without choice, without demand, without anxiety; in that state of mind, there is perception. To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person. Awareness has no frontier; it is giving of your whole being, without exclusion." (Bruce Lee)

"Turn into a doll made of wood: it has no ego, it thinks nothing, it is not grasping or sticky. Let the body and limbs work theselves out in accordance with the discipline they have undergone." (Bruce Lee)

"Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it." (Bruce Lee)

"Using no way as way, having no limitation as limitation." (Bruce Lee)

"Voidness is that which stands right in the middle between this and that. The void is all-inclusive, having no opposite - there is nothing which it excludes or opposes. It is living void, because all forms come out of it and whoever realizes the void is filled with life and power and the love of all being." (Bruce Lee)

"We do not become. We simply are." (Bruce Lee)

"We start by dissolving our attitude not by altering outer conditions." (Bruce lee)

"When in actual combat, you're not fighting a corpse. Your opponent is a living, moving object who is not in a fixed position, but fluid and alive. Deal with him realistically, not as though you're fighting a robot. Traditionally, classical form and efficiency are both equally important. I'm not saying form is not important - economy of form that is - but to me, efficiency is anything that scores. Don't indulge in any unnecessary, sophisticated moves. You'll get clobbered if you do, and in a street fight you'll have your shirt zipped off you." (Bruce Lee)

"When one has reached maturity in the art, one will have a formless form. It is like ice dissolving in water. When one has no form, one can be all forms; when one has no style, he can fit in with any style." (Bruce Lee)

"When people talk about fighting schools they say that Kung Fu, or Karate, or this other style is the best. That is silly, and the problem becomes that the fighting style then becomes set in stone with no growth, and no adaptation, because what works well with me might not work for you." (Bruce Lee)

"When performing the movements, always use your imagination. Picture your adversary attacking, and use Jeet Kune-Do techniques in response to this imagined attack. As these techniques become more innate, new meaning will begin to emerge and better techniques can be formulated." (Bruce Lee)

"When there is freedom from mechanical conditioning, there is simplicity. The classical man is just a bundle of routine, ideas and tradition. If you follow the classical pattern, you are understanding the routine, the tradition, the shadow - you are not understanding yourself." (Bruce Lee)

"When you freely express, you are the total style." (Bruce Lee)

"When you point to the moon, what do you see in front of your finger; Your task is to feel, not to think, when you can understand that the lesson will be learned." (Bruce Lee)

"When your opponent is inside your circle and you cannot or will not retreat any farther, you must fight. But until then, you should maintain your control and your distance." (Bruce Lee)

"When you're talking about fighting, as it is, with no rules, well then, baby you'd better train every part of your body!" (Bruce Lee)

"When, in a split second, your life is threatened, do you say, "Let me make sure my hand is on my hip, and my style is 'the' style?" When your life is in danger, do you argue about the method you will adhere to while saving yourself? Why the duality?" (Bruce Lee)

"You cannot force the Now. - But can you neither condemn nor justify and yet be extraordinarily alive as you walk on? You can never invite the wind, but you must leave the window open." (Bruce Lee)

"You will never learn anything new unless you are ready to accept yourself with your limitations. You must accept the fact that you are capable in some directions and limited in others, and you must develop your capabilities." (Bruce Lee)