Literature.
Literature has long served as a mirror reflecting the complexities of human experience, offering insights into our thoughts, emotions, and societal constructs.
The written word has the power to inspire, provoke, and transform, evoking a spectrum of feelings ranging from joy to sorrow. Literary figures, from ancient poets to contemporary novelists, have articulated profound truths about life, creativity, and the human condition.
In this collection, we delve into the thoughts of renowned authors, critics, and thinkers who have expressed the immeasurable influence of literature. Their words illuminate the vital role that storytelling and the written word play in shaping our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Discover how literature transcends time and culture, reminding us of our shared humanity and the power of imagination.
Editors Pick
Words exist because of meaning; once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words.
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Zhuangzi
We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.
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Zhuangzi
The effect of life in society is to complicate and confuse our existence, making us forget who we really are by causing us to become obsessed with what we are not.
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Zhuangzi
The perfect man uses his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing. It regrets nothing. It receives but does not keep.
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Zhuangzi
Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think and twice as beautiful as you'd ever imagined. Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself
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Rumi
It's your road & yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you
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Rumi
The soul has been given its own ears to hear things that the mind does not understand.
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Rumi
What comes, will go. What is found, will be lost again. But what you are is beyond coming and going and beyond description.
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Rumi
I leave you, to go the road we all must go. The road I would choose, if only I could, is the other
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Murasaki Shikibu
All Quotes on Literature
Your preciousness lies in your essence; it cannot be lost by anything that happens.
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Zhuangzi
Words exist because of meaning; once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words.
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Zhuangzi
When people do not ignore what they should ignore, but ignore what they should not ignore, this is known as ignorance.
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Zhuangzi
We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.
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Zhuangzi
The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the banks of a remote mountain stream than to be emperor of the whole world.
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Zhuangzi
The effect of life in society is to complicate and confuse our existence, making us forget who we really are by causing us to become obsessed with what we are not.
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Zhuangzi
Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.
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Zhuangzi
The perfect man uses his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing. It regrets nothing. It receives but does not keep.
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Zhuangzi
Do not struggle. Go with the flow of things, and you will find yourself at one with the mysterious unity of the Universe.
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Zhuangzi
Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end. There is existence without limitation; there is continuity without a starting point.
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Zhuangzi
Growing older, I love only quietness: who need be concerned with the things of this world? Looking back, what better plan than this: returning to the grove.
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Li Bai
The birds have vanished into the sky, and now the last cloud drains away. We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains.
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Li Bai
My heart is in a world of water and crystal, My clothes are damp in this time of spring rains.
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Du Fu
A falcon hovers at the edge of the sky. Two gulls drift slowly up the river.Vulnerable while they ride the wind, they coast and glide with ease.Dew is heavy on the grass below, the spider's web is ready.Heaven's ways include the human:among a thousand sorrows, I stand alone.
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Du Fu
The bitter pinecone may be eaten, The mist on high give nourishment. The whole world takes to go-and-getting; My way alone is difficult.
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Du Fu
O, from the ancient days always there have been travelers. So why should I grieve?
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Du Fu
Could I get mansions covering ten thousand miles, I'd house all the poor scholars and make them beam with smiles
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Du Fu