Archive for October, 2000

swimming carp

Monday, October 30th, 2000

Two masters were walking by a pool in which carp were swimming.
One master said “Look at those carp. How happy they are swimming in the pool.”
The other master said “How can you presume to know whether the carp are happy or not?”
The first master replied “How can you presume to know I don’t know how the carp feel”

any season is a good season

Thursday, October 26th, 2000

In spring, hundreds of flowers;
In autumn, a harvest moon;
In summer, a refreshing breeze;
In winter, snow will accompany you.
If useless things do not hang in your mind,
any season is a good season for you.

- Mu-mon 1228

morning glory

Wednesday, October 25th, 2000

The morning glory blooms but an hour.
Yet it differs not in heart from a giant pine,
That lives for a thousand years.

- Matsunaga Teitiku

Do not deny not by denying

Tuesday, October 24th, 2000

Do not deny not by denying.

- zen saying

“It has been told that Nature abhors a vacuum.
I disagree.
Nature doesn’t mind a vacuum.
It is man that continually insists on filling them.”

More sayings

Sunday, October 1st, 2000

The facts, although interesting, are generally irrelevant.

The world gets a little better every day, and worse in the evening.

Someone who thinks logically is a nice contrast to the real world.

The other line always moves faster… until you get in it.

Anything worth fighting for is worth fighting dirty for.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Friends may come and go but enemies accumulate.

It’s hard to be nostalgic when you can’t remember anything good.

I have seen the truth and it makes no sense.

To live forever, acquire a chronic disease and take care of it.

Suicide is the most sincere form of self-criticism.

If you think that there is good in everybody, you haven’t met everybody.

If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

One seventh of your life is spent on Monday.

The more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets.

Happiness is good health and a bad memory.