Quotes from Hojoki: Ten Foot Square House

Kamo no Chōmei ·  127 pages

Rating: (410 votes)


“The flow of the river is ceaseless; and its water is never the same.
The foam that floats in the pools
Now gathering, now vanishing
Never lasts long. So it is with man
and all his dwelling places on this earth.”
― Kamo no Chōmei, quote from Hojoki: Ten Foot Square House


“Reality depends upon your mind alone.[34] If your mind is not at peace what use are riches?”
― Kamo no Chōmei, quote from Hojoki: Ten Foot Square House


“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?”
― Kamo no Chōmei, quote from Hojoki: Ten Foot Square House


“Reality depends upon your mind alone.[34]”
― Kamo no Chōmei, quote from Hojoki: Ten Foot Square House


“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.”
― Kamo no Chōmei, quote from Hojoki: Ten Foot Square House



“Then, pilgrim, turn, thy cares forego; All earth-born cares are wrong: Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long.”
― Kamo no Chōmei, quote from Hojoki: Ten Foot Square House


“Ei kukaan voi omistaa kaunista näkymää eikä mikään estä siitä iloitsemista.”
― Kamo no Chōmei, quote from Hojoki: Ten Foot Square House


About the author

Kamo no Chōmei
Born place: in Japan
Born date December 4, 1154
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“The gospel is not outward rituals and sacrifices, it is a living sacrifice. It is to have the laws of God written in our heart. It is to have a soft, listening, responding heart to God.”
― Eric Ludy, quote from When God Writes Your Love Story


“It is easier to call the storm from the empty sky than to manipulate the heart of a man; and soon, if my bones did not lie to me, I should be needing all the power I could muster, to pit against a woman; and this is harder to do than anything concerning men, as air is harder to see than a mountain.”
― Mary Stewart, quote from The Last Enchantment


The Waking

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.”
― Theodore Roethke, quote from The Collected Poems


“Copernicus formulated the heliocentric model of the solar system in the mid-1500s, but the Church didn't get around to punishing anyone for it until they threw Galileo in jail nearly a hundred years later.”
― John Joseph Adams, quote from The Living Dead


“Olivia," he sighed as he held her tight against him. "I like the way you leap."

For once her laughter was free and easy. "And I like the way you catch me when I land.”
― Marie Force, quote from Everyone Loves a Hero


Interesting books

Thinner
(145.6K)
Thinner
by Richard Bachman
Petals on the Wind
(46.4K)
Petals on the Wind
by V.C. Andrews
Captive Prince
(33.3K)
Captive Prince
by C.S. Pacat
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror
(88.4K)
The Strange Case of...
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Changes
(77.8K)
Changes
by Jim Butcher
An Ideal Husband
(32.7K)
An Ideal Husband
by Oscar Wilde

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.