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Lin Yutang

Lin Yutang Quotes

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Famous Lin Yutang Quotes

“The question that faces every man born into this world is not what should be his purpose, which he should set about to achieve, but just what to do with life? The answer, that he should order his life so that he can find the greatest happiness in it, is more a practical question, similar to that of how a man should spend his weekend, then a metaphysical proposition as to what is the mystic purpose of his life in the scheme of the universe.”

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Book:Lin Yutang - The Importance Of Living
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“What threatens civilization today is not war, but the changing conception of life values entailed by certain political doctrines. Only by recapturing the dream of human freedom and restoring the importance of the common man's liberties can that undermining threat to modern civilization be averted”

MenHumansWarDreamTodayPoliticalCertainValuesCommonLibertyModernCivilizationImportanceThreatDoctrineConceptionCommon ManRestoringHuman FreedomUnderminingModern Civilization
Author:Lin Yutang
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“We all have obligations and duties toward our fellow men. But it does seem curious enough that in modern neurotic society, men's energies are consumed in making a living and rarely in living itself. It takes a lot of courage for a man to declare, with clarity and simplicity, that the purpose of life is to enjoy it.”

MenDoeEnoughSeemsLife IsPurposeEnergyEnjoyModernDutyFellowsSimplicityObligationClarityCuriousPurpose Of LifeFellow ManConsumedNeuroticMaking A Living
Book:The pleasures of a nonconformist
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“The history omankind seems like kite flying; sometimes, when the wind is favorable, we let go the string a little and the kite soars a little higher; sometimes the wind is too rough and we have to lower it a little, and sometimes it gets caught among the tree branches; but to reach the upper strata of pure bliss-ah, perhaps never.”

MenLittlesSometimesSeemsTreeWindHigherPureLetting GoCaughtFlyingBlissBranchesStringsRoughSoarKitesTree BranchesPure Bliss
Author:Lin Yutang
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“I am willing to allow that smoking is a moral weakness, but on the other hand, we must beware of the man without weaknesses. He is not to be trusted. He is apt to be always sober and he cannot make a single mistake. His habits are likely to be regular, his existence more mechanical and his head always maintains its supremacy over his heart. Much as I like reasonable persons, I hate completely rational beings.”

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Book:The Importance of Living
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“All men and women have passions, natural desires and noble ambitions, and also a conscience; they have sex, hunger, fear, anger, and are subject to sickness, pain, suffering and death. Culture consists of bringing about the expression of these passions and desires in harmony.”

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Book:The Importance of Living
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“After all the allowances are made for the necessity of having a few supermen in our midst - explorers, conquerors, great inventors, great presidents, heroes who change the course of history - the happiest man is still the man of the middle class who has earned a slight means of economic independence, who has done a little, but just a little, for mankind and who is slightly distinguished in his community, but not too distinguished.”

MenMeanLittlesMadeStillsDoneCoursesPresidentCommunityClassEconomicMiddleMankindHe ManHeroIndependenceMiddle ClassMidstDistinguishedInventorConquerorExplorersAllowanceGreat PresidentsHappiest ManEconomic IndependenceGreat Inventors
Author:Lin Yutang
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“How many of us are able to distinguish between the odors of noon and midnight, or of winter and summer, or of a windy spell and a still one? If man is so generally less happy in the cities than in the country, it is because all these variations and nuances of sight and smell and sound are less clearly marked and lost in the general monotony of gray walls and cement pavements.”

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Book:Lin Yutang - The Importance Of Living
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