Quotes

Look at a cat as she stretches out contentedly in the sun. There is no thought of the next moment, only the sheer enjoyment of the present. Rest Assured that she will still be able to clean herself, still be able to catch mice, and still be able to do al the things that a cat must do. But she is without anxieties, and so she is purely and totally who she should be. She acts as if she were nature’s favorite. And who is to say otherwise.

Look at a cat as she stretches out contentedly in the sun. There is no thought of the next moment, only the sheer enjoyment of the present. Rest Assured that she will still be able to clean herself, still be able to catch mice, and still be able to do al the things that a cat must do. But she is without anxieties, and so she is purely and totally who she should be. She acts as if she were nature’s favorite. And who is to say otherwise.
Happiness & Enjoyment | The Ministry of Happiness

Overwhelming evidence from Europe, Canada and Australia now demonstrates the human and social benefits both of treating drug addiction as a health rather than criminal justice problem and of reducing reliance on prohibitionist policies

Overwhelming evidence from Europe, Canada and Australia now demonstrates the human and social benefits both of treating drug addiction as a health rather than criminal justice problem and of reducing reliance on prohibitionist policies
High ranking group urges an end to drug prohibition | The Raw Story

I have a commonplace book for facts, and another for poetry, but I find it difficult always to preserve the distinction which I had in mind, for the most interesting and beautiful facts are so much the more poetry and that is their success. They are translated from earth to heaven. I see that if my facts were sufficiently vital and significant—perhaps transmuted into the substance of the human mind—I should need but one book of poetry to contain them all.

I have a commonplace book for facts, and another for poetry, but I find it difficult always to preserve the distinction which I had in mind, for the most interesting and beautiful facts are so much the more poetry and that is their success. They are translated from earth to heaven. I see that if my facts were sufficiently vital and significant—perhaps transmuted into the substance of the human mind—I should need but one book of poetry to contain them all.
Henry David Thoreau

A potential student went to see a Zen master and asked: “If I work really hard, how long will it take to become enlightened.” The Zen master looked at the man, and said: “Ten years.” “No, no,” the man said, “I mean to really work at it—” The Zen master cut him off. “I’m sorry, I misjudged you—twenty years.” “Wait,” the man blurted out, “I’m very serious, you don’t understand—” “Thirty years,” said the Zen master.

A potential student went to see a Zen master and asked: “If I work really hard, how long will it take to become enlightened.”
The Zen master looked at the man, and said: “Ten years.”
“No, no,” the man said, “I mean to really work at it—”
The Zen master cut him off. “I’m sorry, I misjudged you—twenty years.”
“Wait,” the man blurted out, “I’m very serious, you don’t understand—”
“Thirty years,” said the Zen master.
ZEN STORY

The shortcomings of social media would not bother me awfully if I did not suspect that Facebook friendship and Twitter chatter are displacing real rapport and real conversation, just as Gutenberg’s device displaced remembering. The things we may be unlearning, tweet by tweet — complexity, acuity, patience, wisdom, intimacy — are things that matter.

The shortcomings of social media would not bother me awfully if I did not suspect that Facebook friendship and Twitter chatter are displacing real rapport and real conversation, just as Gutenberg’s device displaced remembering. The things we may be unlearning, tweet by tweet — complexity, acuity, patience, wisdom, intimacy — are things that matter.
The Twitter Trap – NYTimes.com

Yet another elder said: If you see a young monk by his own will climbing up to heaven, take him by the foot and throw him to the ground, because what he is doing is not good for him.

Yet another elder said: If you see a young monk by his own will climbing up to heaven, take him by the foot and throw him to the ground, because what he is doing is not good for him.
zen instruction

anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really

anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really
DNA/How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet