"Avoiding both these extremes, [indulgence of sense pleasures, devotion to self-mortification] the Tathagata has realized the Middle Path: it gives vision, it gives knowledge, and it leads to calm, to insight, to enlightenment, to Nirvana." ("Samyutta-nikāya" ["Kindred Sayings"], [Pāli Canon, first sermon of Buddha] cca. 5th century BC)
"The true way is the middle one, halfway between deserving a place and pushing oneself into it." (Baltasar Gracián, "The Art of Worldly Wisdom", 1647)
"Setting aside the fact that coercion and guidance can never succeed in producing virtue, they manifestly tend to weaken power; and what are tranquil order and outward morality without true moral strength and virtue? Moreover, however great an evil immorality may be, we must not forget that it is not without its beneficial consequences. It is only through extremes that men can arrive at the middle path of wisdom and virtue." (Wilhelm von Humboldt, "The Limits of State Action", 1792)
"Harmonizing opposites by going back to their source is the distinctive quality of the Zen attitude, the Middle Way: embracing contradictions, making a synthesis of them, achieving balance." (Taisen Deshimaru, "Zen: Here and Now", [documentary] 1971)
"Our task is to strike a balance, to find a middle way, to learn not to overextend ourselves with extraneous activities and preoccupations, but to simplify our lives more and more. The key to finding a happy balance in modern life is simplicity." (Sogyal Rinpoche, "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying", 1992)
"As human beings, not only do we seek resolution, but we also feel that we deserve resolution. However, not only do we not deserve resolution, we suffer from resolution. We don't deserve resolution; we deserve something better than that. We deserve our birthright, which is the middle way, an open state of mind that can relax with paradox and ambiguity." (Pema Chödrön, "When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times", 1996)
"The middle way cannot be achieved by dividing two extremes in half." (Eric Maisel, "Affirmations for Artists", 1996)
"The Buddha's message was simple but profound. Neither a life of self-indulgence nor one of self-mortification can bring happiness. Only a middle path, avoiding these two extremes, leads to peace of mind, wisdom, & complete liberation from the dissatisfactions of life." (Henepola Gunaratana, "Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness: Walking the Buddha's Path", 2001)
"To pursue enlightenment is to search for immeasurable truth, to acquire the ability manipulate life at will, to investigate phenomena that originate in our mind, and to undergo training to recall what our ancestors and predecessors had learned. The aim of the martial arts is not only to unveil the true nature and the laws of the universe through mental and physical exercises, but also to attain eternal tranquility. Enlightenment is achieved when the mind and body are guided to a higher dimension. An enlightened person holds no attachment to his skill or mind, let alone other worldly matters. This means that such a person knows how to practice the middle path." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)
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