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Quote by Alan Watts

“Intellectualisation creates a gap or lack of rapport between you and your life. You may think about things so much that you get into the state where you are eating the menu instead of the dinner.”

Quote by Alan Watts

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

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“No. Silence is something. This is nothing. Why couldn’t I hear it before? I think it has been there always. From the beginning of time.’ He put out his hand and stubbed it on my arm, stared at it. ‘At the end of the world, at the beginning of the world; under the sea and over the sky; at the root and crown of the universe: nothing. At all. That’s what I heard. What I hear.’ He leaned forward. ‘Do you understand?”

“The earth provides not just a little, but all. The very body and mind with which I tend the earth are themselves of the earth. I am but earth tending earth. Were the earth not to roll this garden toward the sun today, were the clouds not to gather above the sea, the waters not to flow, the soil not to brim with its billions of microorganisms, were all or any part of this to fail, I would fail as well, my body numbed to a fixed stillness, my slightest thought cancelled. This truth is so obvious that it is a wonder we can forget it so often and so easily. The fact of it defines who we are. To forget this is to forget who we are, a species suffering from amnesia that bewildered seeks its own name.”

“If we don’t insist on defining impermanence as unsatisfactory, then it’s natural to celebrate. Just a moments pause to consider the passing of the seasons is enough to convince anyone that not only is impermanence the source of all possible joy in this life but its the movement of life itself.”

“Whether you are CEO of a corporation or a garbage collector, whether you are an opera singer or a dishwasher, you are united because you can look inside and see yourself. You do not see people different from you, you start seeing that people are your true self appearing. If you cannot handle people right away, because many people are not living in that world, then try a poodle if you want to see what it looks like for the light to look back at you with open eyes.”