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Quote by Lin Yutang

Work

The Importance of Living

This book delves into the profound questions of existence, examining the importance of living and the various dimensions of human experience. more

Author

Lin Yutang
Lin Yutang

Lin Yutang, born on October 10, 1895, in Yongding District, Longyan City, Fujian Province, and died on March 26, 1976. He was a renowned Chinese modern writer, translator, and scholar, known as a 'cultural giant'. Lin Yutang's literary works are characterized by their humor, wit, and elegant language, with representative works including 'Chinatown Days' and 'Laughing and Crying'. more

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“I often derive a peculiar satisfaction in conversing with the ancient and modern dead, — who yet live and speak excellently in their works. My neighbors think me often alone, — and yet at such times I am in company with more than five hundred mutes — each of whom, at my pleasure, communicates his ideas to me by dumb signs — quite as intelligently as any person living can do by uttering of words.”

“Old or new, the only sign I always try to rid my books of (usually with little success) is the price-sticker that malignant booksellers attach to the backs. These evil white scabs rip off with difficulty, leaving leprous wounds and traces of slime to which adhere the dust and fluff of ages, making me wish for a special gummy hell to which the inventor of these stickers would be condemned.”

“It is wonderful that five thousand years have now elapsed since the creation of the world, and still it is undecided whether or not there has ever been an instance of the spirit of any person appearing after death. All argument is against it; but all belief is for it.”

“My readers, who may at first be apt to consider Quotation as downright pedantry, will be surprised when I assure them, that next to the simple imitation of sounds and gestures, Quotation is the most natural and most frequent habitude of human nature. For, Quotation must not be confined to passages adduced out of authors. He who cites the opinion, or remark, or saying of another, whether it has been written or spoken, is certainly one who quotes; and this we shall find to be universally practiced.”