Hojoki Quotes

Reality depends upon your mind alone.[34] If your mind is not at peace what use are riches?

The flowing river never stops and yet the water never stays the same. Foam floats upon the pools, scattering, re-forming, never lingering long. So it is with man and all his dwelling places here on earth

Men of means have much to fear. Those with none know only bitterness. If you entrust yourself to the care of others you will be owned by them. If you care for others you will be enslaved by your own solicitude. If you conform to the world it will bind you hand and foot. If you do not, then it will think you mad. And so the question, where should we live? And how? Where to find a place to rest a while? And how to bring even short-lived peace to our hearts?

On flows the river ceaselessly, nor does its water ever stay the same. The bubbles that float upon its pools now disappear, now form anew, but never endure long. And so it is with people in this world, and with their dwellings.

If you run about the streets pretending to be a madman, then a madman is what you are. If in pretence of being wicked you kill a man, wicked is what you are. A horse that pretends to fleetness must be counted among the fleet; a man who models himself on the saintly Emperor Shun157 will indeed be among his number. Even a deceitful imitation of wisdom will place you among the wise.

The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve. And like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.

Then, pilgrim, turn, thy cares forego; All earth-born cares are wrong: Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long.

Reality depends upon your mind alone.[34]

Aquel que busca ayuda se convierte en esclavo y el que se da a los demás queda prisionero de su propio afecto, El que acata las reglas de este mundo sufre en consecuencia, pero el que no lo hace se nos presenta como un loco. Donde sea que vivamos y hagamos lo que hagamos, ¿es posible acaso que por un solo instante hallemos cómo descansar nuestro cuerpo y cómo apaciguar nuestro corazón?

Ei kukaan voi omistaa kaunista näkymää eikä mikään estä siitä iloitsemista.

In their friends people like to see a certain affluence in their ready smile They seldom care for warmth and truthfulness. So why not find your friends in song and nature?

Using others is a sin. Why should I wish to use another?

Has your discerning mind just served to drive you mad?

Even if you have three or four extra syllables, or even five or seven, you needn’t worry as long as it sounds right. But if even one syllable is stale in your mouth, give it all of your attention.

Death in the morning, at evening another birth—this is the way of things, no different from the bubbles on the stream.

In winter, the snow fills me with pathos. The sight of it piling high only to melt and vanish is like the mounting sins that block our path to redemption, which penitence will erase.

These days, I divide myself into two uses—these hands are my servants, these feet my transport. They serve just as I wish. Mind knows when things feel hard for the body; at such times it will grant the body rest, and work it when it is wiling. Yet, work the body though it does, the mind will never push too far, and if the body is reluctant, this will not perturb the mind. Indeed the habit of walking and working is good for the health.