No matter how great he may be, the unhealthy person will never be able to exercise true power.
If you wish to manifest your own self, you must first cultivate soundness of body.
Just as the evergreen constancy of the pine only becomes evident in the bleak depths of winter, so too do we only fully comprehend our debt of gratitude to our parents after they have passed away.
While we are accustomed to benevolent treatment, we fail to view it as valuable or worthy of thanks, but the moment such favor ends, we suddenly realize what it was, and become overwhelmed with feelings of nostalgic gratitude.
How would it be if there were a single day when sun, moon, water, and air were removed from the earth? And yet we feel not the slightest gratitude for these things, wholly taking them for granted.
Generally speaking, even the most arrogant “King of the Mountain”, on meeting with natural disaster or serious threat to his life, will for the first time find a consciousness of God welling up from the depths of his heart.
No matter how much we bandy about arguments of logic, science and law as if they mean something, in essence we are all no more than single tiny existences granted life on this planet. Without pondering the fundamental questions of why we are born and what happens after we die, and without reflecting on what we have done with our lives, we become the slaves of petty fame and fortune, and foolishly squander our time away. Such living can only be called the true height of idiocy.
Unless, after trying our hand at a variety of things we come to recognize their true nature deep in our hearts, this world will know little improvement.
Trying various things ourselves, and letting others do the same, we must work while consulting with each other.
It is best to satisfy yourself by experiencing broadly, without limits. Unless you do so, you will never become a truly versatile person.
In this world, there is no great difference between good and bad, wise and foolish. Too much or too little of a thing is bad—an appropriate amount is good.
He who knows moderation in things is a great man. In order to find such balance, you must first experience many different situations.
The reason we feel tense when visiting an unfamiliar place, is because we insist on behaving in an extremely unnatural manner. In all things, to distinguish between ones usual behavior and one’s “company manners” is a grave mistake.
If we always maintain a state of open-minded adaptability to circumstances, we will never find our actions to be unnatural. To go against what is natural is a violation of the laws of heaven and earth.
For some reason, I have recently come to often feel vacant and dull, like beer gone flat. Then, by some chance, I will suddenly perk up—but the source of the ebb and flow of this tide is not at all clear.
People, rather than racking their brains over this and that, should simply eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, and day by day do those things which they naturally feel like doing—this is a far more honest way of living.
Living from the head leads to stagnation. You must live from the gut.
Hesitation and procrastination will not do.
When a primary school student, it is enough to simply know what is normal for a primary school student. Even should such a child have the knowledge of a college student, their actions will still be those of a small child, and it will be pointless.
With writing as well, it is foolish to expect to write skillfully from the very start. It is best to simply let your thoughts flow smoothly from the tip of the brush as they appear. If you ponder too deeply—vainly worrying over elaborate details of wording and description—time will merely pass in endless scribbling and erasing, and you will make no progress at all.
Something created against your instincts will always seem unsatisfactory, and have an air of repugnance to it. When you are unskilled, you should be content to be unskilled, and without trying to hide it just go about your work easily and frankly. It is natural to simply show your own spirit as it is in all that you do. The moment you attempt to express that which is alien to you, no matter how hard you try, it will be in vain.
Many authors, while bearing gloomy countenances, have turned out prose of great humor and wit. It is not that they are showing their spirit in a false light, but that such writers have yet to discover their true self, and so the torment they suffer from their base natures appears in the lines of their faces. But because their true spirit is one of optimism, one way or another glimmers of this light shine through.
