Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Kenko

The Japanese Buddhist Priest 'Kenko'
1283-1350

From Essays in Idleness
Tsurezuregusa

"If man were never to fade away like the dews of Adashino, never to vanish like the smoke over Toribeyama, but lingered on forever in this world, how things would lose their power to move us! The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty."
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"To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you, and hold intimate converse with men of unseen generations—such is a pleasure beyond compare."
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"In all things, it is the beginnings and ends that are interesting. Does the love between men and women refer only to the moments when they are in each other's arms? The man who grieves over a love affair broken off before it was fulfilled, who bewails empty vows, who spends long autumn nights alone, who lets his thoughts wander to distant skies, who yearns for the past in a dilapidated house- such a man truly knows what love means."..

"In everything, no matter what it may be, uniformity is undesirable. Leaving something incomplete makes it interesting, and gives one the feeling that there is room for growth."..

"It is typical of the unintelligent man to insist on assembling complete sets of everything. Imperfect sects are better."..

"What a strange, demented feeling it gives me when I realize I have spent whole days before this inkstone, with nothing better to do, jotting down at random whatever nonsensical thoughts have entered my head."..

"Why is it that even the most careless utterances of the men of former days should sound so splendid?"..

"Mine is a foolish diversion, but these pages are meant to be torn up, and no one is likely to see them."

"Someone remarked that you should give up any art of which you have not become a master by the age of fifty."..