Ursula K. Le Guin Quotes

“The Tao Te Ching is partly in prose, partly in verse; but as we define poetry now, not by rhyme and meter but as a patterned intensity of language, the whole thing is poetry. I wanted to catch that poetry, its terse, strange beauty. Most translations have caught meanings in their net, but prosily, letting the beauty slip through. And in poetry, beauty is no ornament; it is the meaning. It is the truth. We have that on good authority.”

“The Tao Te Ching is partly in prose, partly in verse; but as we define poetry now, not by rhyme and meter but as a patterned intensity of language, the whole thing is poetry. I wanted to catch that poetry, its terse, strange beauty. Most translations have caught meanings in their net, but prosily, letting the beauty slip through. And in poetry, beauty is no ornament; it is the meaning. It is the truth. We have that on good authority.”

“I wonder whether, perhaps without realizing it, we seek out the books we need to read. Or whether books themselves, which are intelligent entities, detect their readers and catch their eye. In the end, every book is the I Ching. You pick it up, open it, and there it is, there you are.”

“Waiting is not mere empty hoping. It has the inner certainty of reaching the goal.”

“And when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts,Their words are sweet and strong like the fragrance of orchids.”

“Chaos is another name for opportunity”

“Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.”

“The heart that gives, gathers.”

“When people see some things as beautiful,other things become ugly.When people see some things as good,other things become bad.”

“It takes practice, feeling happy about the ever enfolding events of life, and, because of all the conditioning we have undergone before this, it may be very difficult to make the change, but if we take the saying to heart and practice it, as the days unfold we will find ourselves living ever happier lives, smiling more, and finally, laughing more.”

“Heaven and earthbegin in the unnamed:name’s the motherof the ten thousand things.”