Yoshida Kenkō Quotes

1283–1350 Japan

Yoshida Kenkō (Japanese: 吉田兼好; 1283? – 1350?) was a Japanese author and Buddhist monk. His most famous work is Tsurezure-Gusa (Essays in Idleness), one of the most studied works of medieval Japanese literature.

Japan
Essayists
Religious leaders

Also known as: Kenko, Yoshida, Kenkō, Yoshida, Yoshida Kenko

Random Yoshida Kenkō quote

29 quotes

Even a false imitation of wisdom must be reckoned as wisdom.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

The truly enlightened man has no learning, no virtue, no accomplishments, no fame.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

What a wonderfully unhurried feeling it is to live even even a single year in perfect serenity.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

There's no escaping it-the world is full of lies. It is safest always to accept what one hears as if it were utterly commonplace and devoid of interest.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

Fame, moreover inspires backbiting. It does no good whatsoever to have one's name survive. A craving after fame is next foolish.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

All is unreality. Nothing is worth discussing, worth desiring.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

He is of low understanding who spends a whole life irked by common worldly matters.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

It is excellent for a man to be simple in his tastes, to avoid extravagance, to own no possessions, to entertain no craving for worldly success.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

The pleasantest of all diversions is to sit alone under the lamp, a book spread out before you, and to make friends with people of a distant past you have never known.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

Why is it so hard to do a thing Now, at the moment when one thinks of it.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

Young or strong, it matters not, the unforeseen is Death. That you have escaped it until to-day is a miracle, for which to be thankful.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

A certain recluse, I know not who, once said that no bonds attached him to this life, and the only thing he would regret leaving was the sky.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

Leave undone whatever you hesitate to do.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

So much for those that set their deluded hearts on Fame and Profit. All things are Nothing—unworthy of speech, unworthy of desire.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

One should write not unskilfully in the running hand, be able to sing in a pleasing voice and keep good time to music; and, lastly, a man should not refuse a little wine when pressed upon him.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

If you forthwith abandon all, and turn to the Way, then you are free from hindrance and trouble, and the mind and body are at lasting peace.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you, and hold intimate converse with men of unseen generations — such is a pleasure beyond compare.

If a man strictly observe the rules of his Way, and keep a rein on himself, then no matter what Way it be, he will be a Scholar of renown and be a Teacher of multitudes.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

I find it insufferable too the way people spread word about the latest novelties and make a fuss over them. I am charmed by the man who remains unaware of such fashions until they have become quite an old story to everyone else.

Tsurezuregusa (1330)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Yoshida Kenkō (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.