Why not consecrate ourselves to the queen of the Camelias, and revel in the warm stream of sympathy that flows from her altar? In the liquid amber within the ivory porcelain, the initiated may touch the sweet reticence of Confucius, the piquancy of Lao tsu, and the ethereal aroma of Buddha himself. From The Book …
Constant complaining is a way to avoid having regret. Montaigne.
We love the things we love, for what they are. Robert Frost.
The secret with me is that in success, as in failure, in the consciousness of my doing, as in my habits, I am myself. There are a great many who dare not to be themselves. Björnstjerne Björnson
Remember, my dear Govinda, the world of appearances is transitory, the style of our clothes and hair is extremely transitory. Our hair and our bodies themselves transitory. Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse.
The natural desire of good men is knowledge. Leonardo DaVinci.
Human history is one long identity crisis. Science and other realms of culture keep expanding the range of possible answers to the mind-body problem. Inventions as diverse as meditation, Islam, capitalism, Marxism, eugenics, stream-of-consciousness fiction, psychoanalysis, quantum mechanics, computers, genetic tests, MRIs, queer theory, civil-rights legislation, brain implants and LSD have given us new ways …
Hey, FADED daffodil, FLOATING DOWN THE RIVER TO TIENOUAN! IF YOU SEE THERE A YOUNG GIRL DREAMING, UNDER A CINNAMON TREE which HAS BLOSSOMED TWICE SINCE WE EMBRACED, TELL HER I SMELL A FRESH CARNATION, TO REMEMBER HER PERFUME. Wan Tsu, From The Jade Flute, Chinese Poems in Prose.