“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
“Like I said - I wasn't stupid. Rough around the edges maybe, definitely a little perverted at times, but never stupid. I was a survivor. I'd damn well survive this.”
― Elle Jasper, quote from Afterlight
“If you progress in this work you will eventually realise that life is a school. In your dreams you may find yourself being taught in a classroom; this is part of the teaching that someone goes through in the higher dimensions.”
― Belzebuub, quote from The Peace of the Spirit Within: A Guide to Transform Your Life
“For me," he said. It came out as a cross between a choked growl and a whimpher. It was shocked, and it was possessive. Full of pain, and laced with joy. "You were made for me.”
― Jus Accardo, quote from Touch
“My recommendation is to keep up the good work. I’m changing your title to senior executive assistant, and giving you a three percent raise effective next payday. Congratulations.”
Wow, three percent. I could move up that early retirement plan to age seventy-five now, instead of eighty. Lucky me.
Thank you,” I said. “That’s very generous.”
You’re quite welcome.” Ms. Saunders nodded and grabbed a gold-plated letter opener to begin attacking her stack of mail.
I turned to leave. Didn’t want to outstay my welcome.
Damn it!” she exclaimed, and I turned back around. She winced and nodded at the letter opener that she’d dropped to her desktop. “Damn thing slipped. I’m probably going to need stitches now. Can you be a dear and fetch the first-aid kit for me?”
She held her left index finger and frowned at the steady flow of blood oozing out. A few small drops of red splashed onto the other letters spread out on the desk.
I felt woozy. And suddenly dizzy.
I blinked.
When I opened my eyes, I was no longer standing by the door about to leave. I was crouched down next to Ms. Saunders’s imported black leather chair, grasping her wrist tightly…… and sucking noisily on her fingertip.
I shrieked and let go of her, staggering backward. I grabbed at her desk to keep from falling, but I dropped on my butt, anyhow, taking most of the contents of the top of her desk with me.
She held her injured finger far away from her and stared at me, wide-eyed, with a mixture of shock and disgust.
I scrambled to my feet and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
What in the holy hell just happened?
I… I… uh… I’m so sorry,” I managed. “I don’t know what… I wouldn’t normally do something… I just…”
Ms. Saunders pulled her hand close to her chest, perhaps to protect it from further abuse.
Get out,” she said quietly.
Yeah, I’ll get back to work. Again, I’m so, so sorry. Would you like me to bring you a cup of coffee?”
No, not to your desk,” she said evenly, but her volume increased with every word. “Get out of here, you freak. I don’t care what you’ve heard, I’m not into women. You’re fired. Now get out of here before I call security.”
But… my job review—”
Get out!” she yelled.”
― Michelle Rowen, quote from Bitten & Smitten
“Words can give us knowledge and understanding. They can tell us of things as they once were, as they should be, or even as they might be.”
― M.L. Forman, quote from Slathbog's Gold
Smokeless Fire
The Traitor in the T...
The True Believer: T...
Midnight Riot
Dragon's Egg
The Summer BookBookQuoters 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.
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