Bashō Matsuo Quotes

“If I had the knackI'd sing likeCherry flakes falling”

“Here is a greedy man who keeps to himselfThe beautiful pears ripe in his garden.”

“On this roadwhere nobody else travelsautumn nightfall.”

“My children are monsters, Kiro thought. And I am responsible. Perhaps if I had read them the haikus of Basho when they were little instead of that American manifesto of high-pressure sales, Green Eggs and Ham...”

“Had I crossed the passSupported by a stick,I would have spared myselfThe fall from the horse.”

“The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.”

“Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought.”

“Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old seek what they sought.”

“At one time I was weary of verse writing, and wanted to give it up. At another time I was determined to be a poet until I could establish a proud name over others. The alternatives battled in my mind and made my life restless.”

“Awakened at midnightby the sound of the water jarcracking from the ice”