“When you lose your temper, you lose yourself—on the mat as well as in life.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“When one eye is fixed upon your destination, there is only one eye left with which to find the Way.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“When an untoward event occurs in your life, react to it without haste or passion.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“The gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“For example, if you are fearful your mind will freeze, motion will be stopped and you will be defeated. If your mind is fixed on victory or defeating your opponent, you will be unable to function automatically.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“The angry man will defeat himself in battle as well as in life.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“Only through practice and more practice, until you can do something without conscious effort.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“I can defeat you physically with or without a reason. But I can only defeat your mind with a reason. —JIM LAU”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“A man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“Those who are patient in the trivial things in life and control themselves will one day have the same mastery in great and important things.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“Always remember: in life as well as on the mat an unfocused or ‘loose’ mind wastes energy.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“What stands in the way of effortless effort is caring, or a conscious attempt to do well.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“The principle of avoiding conflict and never opposing an aggressor’s strength head-on is the essence of aikido. We apply the same principle to problems that arise in life. The skilled aikidoist is as elusive as the truth of Zen; he makes himself into a koan—a puzzle which slips away the more one tries to solve it. He is like water in that he falls through the fingers of those who try to clutch him. Water does not hesitate before it yields, for the moment the fingers begin to close it moves away, not of its own strength, but by using the pressure applied to it. It is for this reason, perhaps, that one of the symbols for aikido is water.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“For the uncontrolled there is no wisdom, nor for the uncontrolled is there the power of concentration; and for him without concentration there is no peace. And for the unpeaceful, how can there be happiness? —BHAGAVAD GITA”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“The mind is like a fertile garden,” Bruce said. “It will grow anything you wish to plant—beautiful flowers or weeds. And so it is with successful, healthy thoughts or with negative ones that will, like weeds, strangle and crowd the others. Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind for they are the weeds that strangle confidence.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“We are like blades of grass or trees of the forest, creations of the universe, of the spirit of the universe, and the spirit of the universe has neither life nor death. Vanity is the only obstacle to life.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“Only after several years of training did I come to realize that the deepest purpose of the martial arts is to serve as a vehicle for personal spiritual development.”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“And for the unpeaceful, how can there be happiness?”
― quote from Zen in the Martial Arts
“Is this Christian charity as it’s practiced in Bern?” He stood up, rapping his head against the low ceiling. “The Church has become a more … exclusive club since the founder’s day, it’s clear. No doubt the Devil is more hospitable.”
― Tim Powers, quote from The Stress of Her Regard
“Before Beth could warn the dude of the danger, Nicola elbowed him with that special touch of hers. His cheeks puffed out, his brow dropped down, and he doubled over. Not turning her head, she gave Beth a roll of her eyes. “I tried to say ‘go away’ politely.”
― Cristin Harber, quote from Hart Attack
“Pain is what hurts you. Fear is what never lets you forget about it.”
― Dan Waldschmidt, quote from Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Can Achieve Outrageous Success
“Upon entering the town there was a Gestapo man with a noose around his neck, hanging for everyone to see. I went over and stared at this man dangling in the air, lifeless. I had no feelings one way or another for this man. I was numb in my heart. I tried to hate him and tell myself he was no good and deserved to die, but I felt empty inside. The only thing I noticed was his shoes that he wouldn't need any longer, so I untied them and put them on my feet.”
― quote from Outcry - Holocaust memoirs
“Look, when do the really interesting things happen? Not when you've brushed your teeth and put on your pyjamas and are cozy in bed. They happen when you are cold and uncomfortable and hungry and don't have a roof over your head for the night.”
― Ellen Potter, quote from The Kneebone Boy
Manuscript Found in...
A Kingdom of Dreams
Mortal Engines
War with the Newts
Flawless
I Am That: Talks wit...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.
