Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Alan Watts

Quote by Alan Watts

Work

The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

This book delves into the complexities of self-discovery and the cultural barriers that prevent individuals from fully comprehending their own identities. more

Author

Alan Watts
Alan Watts

Alan Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker known for his exploration of the relationship between Eastern and Western thought, particularly focusing on Zen Buddhism and its influence on Western culture. His work has influenced many in the areas of spirituality, psychology, and the philosophy of science. more

You May Also Like

“For every individual is a unique manifestation of the Whole, as every branch is a particular outreaching of the tree. To manifest individuality, every branch must have a sensitive connection with the tree, just as our independently moving and differentiated fingers must have a sensitive connection with the whole body. The point, which can hardly be repeated too often, is that differentiation is not separation.”

WholeBodyMovingIndividualTreeParticularUniqueConnectionsFingersIndividualitySeparationSensitiveManifestationBranchesManifestOften IsDifferentiation
Book:The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
Create image

“For unless one is able to live fully in the present, the future is a hoax. There is no point whatever in making plans for a future which you will never be able to enjoy. When your plans mature, you will still be living for some other future beyond. You will never, never be able to sit back with full contentment and say, "Now, I've arrived!" Your entire education has deprived you of this capacity because it was preparing you for the future, instead of showing you how to be alive now.”

StillsAbleEnjoyAlivePlansCapacityContentmentMaturePreparingDeprivedNo PointHoaxes
Author:Alan Watts
Create image

“We therefore work, not for the work's sake, but for money—and money is supposed to get us what we really want in our hours of leisure and play. In the United States even poor people have lots of money compared with the wretched and skinny millions of India, Africa, and China, while our middle andupper classes (or should we say "income groups") are as prosperous as princes. Yet, by and large, they have but slight taste for pleasure. Money alone cannot buy pleasure, though it can help. For enjoyment is an art and a skill for which we have little talent or energy.”

PeopleWantShouldLittlesArtStatesPlayHelpingEnergyHoursPleasurePoorUnitedClassMillionsUnited StatesGroupsMiddleTalentTasteSkillsIndiaSakeChinaIncomeEnjoymentLeisureLots Of MoneyPoor PeopleWretchedSkinnyProsperous
Book:The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
Create image

“Hold to the now, the here, through which all future plunges to the past.”

PastMindfulnessPlunge
Book:The Complete Works of James Joyce: Novels, Short Stories, Plays, Poetry, Essays & Letters: Ulysses, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Finnegan’s Wake, Dubliners, The Cat and the Devil, Exiles, Chamber Music, Pomes Penyeach, Stephen Hero, Giacomo Joyce, Critical Writings & more
Create image