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Kakuzō Okakura Quotes

Total quotes: 17
“Definition is always limitation—the "fixed" and "unchangeless" are but terms expressive of a stoppage of growth.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: definition, Limitation, limitation in defining, fixed, unchangeless, Life, Living, Standards
“...how small after all the cup of human enjoyment is, how soon overflowed with tears, how easily drained to the dregs in our quenchless thirst for infinity, we shall not blame ourselves for making so much of the tea-cup.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: human actions, Human Behavior, human enjoyment, humanity, Mankind, People, Human All Too Human, eternal desire, Life
“Our standards of morality are begotten of the past needs of society, but is society to remain always the same?”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: societal standards, society's standards, Morality, morals, standards of morality, Ethics, Society
“Education, in order to keep up the mighty delusion, encourages a species of ignorance. People are not taught to be really virtuous, but to behave properly. We are wicked because we are frightfully self-conscious.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: Education, education system, education to humans, education to mankind, Human Behavior, human action, humanity
“In ethics the Taoist railed at the laws and the moral codes of society, for to them right and wrong were but relative terms.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: Taoist, Ethics, morals, moral code of society, Laws, Right And Wrong, Society, society's standards, Taoism
“One who could make of himself a vacuum into which others might freely enter would become master of all situations. The whole can always dominate the part.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea(Penguin Classics)
Tagged: Human Behavior, human, Mankind, human beings, Person, Personality, Adaptability, Flexibility, Living, living and surviving, Life
“Translation is always a treason, and as a Ming author observes, can at its best be only the reverse side of a brocade,—all the threads are there, but not the subtlety of colour or design.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: Translation, Language, differences in translations, languages, language as art
“Chinese historians have always spoken of Taoism as the "art of being in the world," for it deals with the present—ourselves. It is in us that God meets with Nature, and yesterday parts from to-morrow.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: Taoism, Present Focused, Living In The Present, Sacredness, World, Art Of Living, Life
“The Present is the moving Infinity, the legitimate sphere of the Relative. Relativity seeks Adjustment; Adjustment is Art. The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: art of life, Art Of Living, present life, Present Focused, Present Moments, infinity in the present, Infinity, Living In The Present, adjustment, Survival, living and surviving, Life
“It was the process, not the deed, which was interesting. It was the completing, not the completion, which was really vital.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: Life, Living, Living A Good Life, living and dreaming, living and surviving, reaching dreams, Dreams, journey in life, Journey Not Destination, Inspirational, Motivational
“The whole ideal of Teaism is a result of this Zen conception of greatness in the smallest incidents of life. Taoism furnished the basis for aesthetic ideals, Zennism made them practical.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea(Penguin Classics)
Tagged: teaism, Zennism, Taoism, way of life, Living A Balanced Life, Living A Good Life, Living, living simply, Life
“To keep the proportion of things and give place to others without losing one's own position was the secret of success in the mundane drama. We must know the whole play in order to properly act our parts; the conception of totality must never be lost in that of the individual.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: Life, Living, Living Alone, Living A Balanced Life
“Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: teaism, art of tea, Imperfection, worship of the imperfect, impossibility in life, impossible life, Life
“A special contribution of Zen to Eastern thought was its recognition of the mundane as of equal importance with the spiritual. It held that in the great relation of things there was no distinction of small and great, an atom possessing equal possibilities with the universe. The seeker for perfection must discover in his own life the reflection of the inner light.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea(Penguin Classics)
Tagged: self, Self & Identity, self-realization, self awareness, Self Appreciation, Self Care, Self Worth, Self-Love, Life
“How much do we not suffer through the constant failure of society to recognise this simple and fundamental law of art and life; Lichilai, a Sung poet, has sadly remarked that there were three most deplorable things in the world: the spoiling of fine youths through false education, the degradation of fine art through vulgar admiration, and the utter waste of fine tea through incompetent manipulation.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: societal standards, society's standards, failure of society, society's failure, education system, degradation of art, tea, waste of tea, World, Life
“The spirit of barter is everywhere. Honour and Chastity! Behold the complacent salesman retailing the Good and True. One can even buy a so-called Religion, which is really but common morality sanctified with flowers and music. Rob the Church of her accessories and what remains behind? Yet the trusts thrive marvelously, for the prices are absurdly cheap, —a prayer for a ticket to heaven, a diploma for an honourable citizenship.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: Society, humanity, societal standards, standards of morality, society's standards, Morality, People, human actions, Human Behavior, Life
“Tea is a work of art and needs a master hand to bring out its noblest qualities. We have good and bad tea, as we have good and bad paintings—generally the latter. There is no single recipe for making the perfect tea, as there are no rules for producing a Titian or a Sesson. Each preparation of the leaves has its individuality, its special affinity with water and heat, its own method of telling a story.”
— Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea
Tagged: tea, teaism, tea as a work of art, art in tea, Culture, culture in tea
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