"The qualities we possess should never be a matter for satisfaction, but the qualities we have discarded."

Wei Wu Wei Philosophy See all quotes by Wei Wu Wei →

React to this quote

More by Wei Wu Wei

“Are we not wasps who spend all day in a fruitless attempt to traverse a window-pane — while the other half of the window is wide open?”

“The Buddha forbore to specify: as long as there is any "one" to suffer — he will.”

“There is no mystery whatever — only inability to perceive the obvious.”

“In order to be effective truth must penetrate like an arrow — and that is likely to hurt.”

“Realisation is a matter of becoming conscious of that which is already realised.”

“All the evil in the world, and all the unhappiness, comes from the I-concept.”

Resonant Thoughts

"You do have to rise above. If you're true to yourself and you're confident with who you are and you really know where you're coming from, you'll be fine. No matter what anyone says and no matter what …"

— Erika Jayne

Music1971

#truth

"The idea that the intellect is somehow alien to sensuousness, or vice versa, is one that I have never been able to connect with. I can accept that it is a prevalent belief, but it seems to me, nonethe…"

— Geoffrey Hill

Literature1932–2016

#knowledge

"It is the height of folly to assume that environment, discipline, education, and all other external devices can affect the blood, smooth down inequalities between individuals of the same breed, much l…"

— Theodore G. Bilbo

Politics1877–1947

#knowledge

"The history of the apple is too absurd. Whether the apple fell or not, how can any one believe that such a discovery could in that way be accelerated or retarded? Undoubtedly, the occurrence was somet…"

— Carl Friedrich Gauss

Science1777–1855

#science