Week 2026-07: On Harmony

"Having collected an army and concentrated his forces, he must blend and harmonize the different elements thereof before pitching his camp." (Sun Tzu, "The Art of War", 5th century BC)

"The peace of God is with them whose mind and soul are in harmony, who are free from desire and wrath, who know their own soul." (Bhagavad Gita)

"The soul that moves in the world of senses and yet keeps the senses in harmony ... finds rest in quietness." (Bhagavad Gita)

"There's no wisdom from a man without harmony, and without harmony there is no contemplation. Without contemplation there cannot be peace, and without peace there can be no joy..." (Bhagavad Gita) 

"If there is righteousness in the heart,
there will be beauty in the character.
If there is beauty in the character,
there will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home,
there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
there will be peace in the world." (Confucius)

"Easy gives rise to difficult ... resonance

harmonizes sound, after follows before." (Lao Tzu)

"Figure out the rhythm of life and live in harmony with it." (Lao Tzu) 

"In the series of things those which follow are always aptly fitted to those which have gone before; for this series is not like a mere enumeration of disjointed things, which has only a necessary sequence, but it is a rational connection: and as all existing things are arranged together harmoniously, so the things which come into existence exhibit no mere succession, but a certain wonderful relationship." (Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations", cca. 180 AD)

“In the same way as regards the soul, when that kind of thing in us which mirrors the images of thought and intellect is undisturbed, we see them and know them in a way parallel to sense-perception, along with the prior knowledge that it is intellect and thought that are active. But when this is broken because the harmony of the body is upset, thought and intellect operate without an image, and then intellectual activity takes place without a mind-picture.” (Plotinus, “Enneads”, cca. 270 AD)

"There is timing in the whole life of the warrior, in his thriving and declining, in his harmony and discord. Similarly, there is timing in the Way of the merchant, in the rise and fall of capital. All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this. In strategy there are various timing considerations. From the outset you must know the applicable timing and the inapplicable timing, and from among the large and small things and the fast and slow timings find the relevant timing, first seeing the distance timing and the background timing. This is the main thing in strategy. It is especially important to know the background timing, otherwise your strategy will become uncertain." (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho" ["The Book of Five Rings"], 1645)

"Students should always be conscious to the advantages of fundamental principles, which are: practicing the movements slowly and evenly, inhaling and exhaling naturally so as to accumulate qi and concentrate the shen [spirit], and never employing muscular strength [li] too excessively. It is through softness and gentleness that you achieve mastery. This softness and gentleness means soft and continuous movements in conjunction with harmonious breathing." (Yearning K Chen, "T’ai Chi Ch’uan: Sword, Saber, Staff, and Dispersing-Hands Combined", 1943)

"Through slowness you can later be soft; through evenness you can later be gentle. The capability of being soft and gentle will cause the muscle and bone to be opened. The qi and blood will circulate harmoniously. From this the breath will become deep and long and the spirit of vitality can be stimulated and brought forth." (Yearning K Chen, "T’ai Chi Ch’uan: Sword, Saber, Staff, and Dispersing-Hands Combined", 1943)

"The very name Aikido indicates its dependence on the laws of nature, which we term ki. Aikido means the way to harmony with ki. That is to say, Aikido is a discipline to make the heart of nature our own heart, to understand love for all things, and to become one with nature. Techniques and physical strength have limits; the great way of the universe stretches to infinity." (Koichi Tohei, "Book of Ki: Co-ordinating Mind and Body in Daily Life", 1976)

"Simply stated, aikido is a budo open to all people who aspire to unify the ki of the universe with the ki of oneself. For all members of the human race, it is the path to attaining harmony with all beings. The gates of aikido are open to people of all ages, classes, sexes, nationalities and races. Non-discrimination and non-exclusiveness are basic characteristics of aikido." (Kisshomaru Ueshiba, "The Spirit of Aikido", 1981)

"The burning desire of the Founder in establishing aikido was to keep the most valuable legacy of budo alive in the modern world. In order to accomplish his goal he went beyond differences in outward form to grasp the essence of each martial art and to bring it to life in a new form. The motivating force was his intense spiritual quest to discover a life-giving and life-affirming philosophy in budo. The result was the transformation of the heart of budo into the heart of aikido, the way of harmony and love."  (Kisshomaru Ueshiba, "The Spirit of Aikido", 1981)

"The subtle working of ki is the maternal source that affects changes in breath. It is also the source of martial art as love. When one unifies mind and body by virtue of ki and manifests ai-ki (harmony of ki), delicate changes in breath-power occur spontaneously and 'waza' (proper technique) flows freely." (Kisshomaru Ueshiba, "The Spirit of Aikido", 1981)

"The burning desire of the Founder in establishing aikido was to keep the most valuable legacy of budo alive in the modern world. In order to accomplish his goal he went beyond differences in outward form to grasp the essence of each martial art and to bring it to life in a new form. The motivating force was his intense spiritual quest to discover a life-giving and life-affirming philosophy in budo. The result was the transformation of the heart of budo into the heart of aikido, the way of harmony and love."  (Kisshomaru Ueshiba, "The Spirit of Aikido", 1981)

"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", 1992)

"But you cannot have harmony without a commitment to ethical behavior. It's the fence that keeps out the goats that will eat all the young shoots in your garden." (Jon Kabat-Zinn, "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life", 1994)

"No price is too great to pay for inner peace. Peace is the harmonious control of life. It is vibrant with life-energy. It is a power that easily transcends all our worldly knowledge. Yet it is not separate from our earthly existence. If we open the right avenues within, this peace can be felt here and now." (Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, "The Jewels of Happiness: Inspiration and Wisdom to Guide Your Life-Journey", 2015)

"Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well." (Gandhi)

"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony." (Thomas Merton)

"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)

"It is in virtue that happiness consists, for virtue is the state of mind which tends to make the whole of life harmonious." (Zeno)

"Meditation is, first of all, a tool for surveying our territory so we can know what is going on. With the energy of mindfulness, we can calm things down, understand them, and bring harmony back to the conflicting elements inside us." (Thich Nhat Hanh)

"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)

"Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony." (Heraclitus of Ephesus)

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

"The Great Harmony is called the Way (Tao, Moral Law). It embraces the nature which underlies all counter processes of floating and sinking, rising and falling, and motion and rest. It is the origin of the process of fusion and intermingling, of overcoming and being overcome, and of expansion and contraction. At the commencement, these processes are incipient, subtle, obscure, easy, and simple, but at the end they are extensive, great, strong, and firm. It is ch'ien (Heaven) that begins with the knowledge of Change, and k'un (Earth) that models after simplicity. That which is dispersed, differentiated, and capable of assuming form becomes material force (ch'i), and that which is pure, penetrating, and capable of assuming form becomes spirit. Unless the whole universe is in the process of fusion and intermingling like fleeting forces moving in all directions, it may not be called Great Harmony." (Chang Tsai)

"The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"There is harmony in our activity, and where there is harmony there is calmness." (Daisetzu T Suzuki)

"Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence." (Alan Watts)

"To define Buddhism without a lot of words and phrases, we can simply say, 'Don't cling or hold on to anything. Harmonize with actuality, with things as they are.'" (Ajahn Chah)

"When we in prayer seek only the glorification of the name of God, then we are in complete harmony with the spirit of prayer. Then our hearts are at rest both while we pray and after we have prayed. Then we can wait for the Lord." (Ole Hallesby)

"When we succeed in truly thanking God, we feel good at heart. The reason is that we have been created to give glory to God, now and forever-more. And every time we do so, we feel that we are in harmony with His plans and purposes for our lives. Then we are truly in our element. That is why it is so blessed." (Ole Hallesby)

"Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe." (Anatole France)

"When you walking along naturally, you're walking in the harmony of the Unborn." (Bankei Yōtaku)