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A rush of wind comes furiously now, down from the mountaintop. "The ancient Greeks," I say, "who were the inventors of classical reason, knew better than to use it exclusively to foretell the future. They listened to the wind and predicted the future from that. That sounds insane now. But why should the inventors of reason sound insane?"

— Robert M. Pirsig Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)

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More quotes by Robert M. Pirsig

You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)

The bones and flesh and legal statistics are the garments worn by the personality, not the other way around.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)

Steel can be any shape you want if you are skilled enough, and any shape but the one you want if you are not.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)

Talk about rationality can get very confusing unless the things with which rationality deals are also included.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)

The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)

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The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

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Matter gave birth to a passion that has no equal, which proceeded from something contrary to nature. Then there arises a disturbance in its whole body.

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Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Robert M. Pirsig (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.