Lin Yutang quotes - page 3

To the West, it seems hardly imaginable that the relationship between man and man (which is morality) could be maintained without reference to a Supreme Being, while to the Chinese it is equally amazing that men should not, or could not, behave toward one another as decent beings without thinking of their indirect relationship through a third party. (Lin Yutang)
If the early Chinese people had any chivalry, it was manifested not toward women and children, but toward old people. That feeling of chivalry found clear expression in Mencius in some such saying as, "The people with gray hair should not be seen carrying burdens on the street," which was expressed as the final goal of good government. View quote
Lin Yutang
Human life can be lived like a poem. View quote
Lin Yutang
While in the West, the insane are so many that they are put in an asylum, in China the insane are so unusual that we worship them, as anybody who has a knowledge of Chinese literature will testify. View quote
Lin Yutang
A mellow understanding of life and of human nature is, and always has been, the Chinese ideal of character, and from that understanding other qualities are derived, such as pacifism, contentment, calm and strength of endurance which distinguish the Chinese character. View quote
Lin Yutang
He who perceives death perceives a sense of the human comedy, and quickly becomes a poet. View quote
Lin Yutang
These influences of my young childhood were greatest: 1, the mountain landscape, 2, my father the impossible idealist, and 3, the upringing of a closely-knit Christian home. View quote
Lin Yutang
I am here to speak on freedom of speech. It is a great topic, and I am going to make my speech as free as possible. But you know that this cannot be done, for when anyone announces that he is going to speak his mind freely, everyone is frightened. This shows that there is no such thing as true freedom of speech. No one can afford to let his neighbors know what he is thinking about them. Society can exist only on the basis that there is some amount of polished lying and that no one says exactly what he thinks. View quote
Lin Yutang
Such religion as there can be in modern life, every individual will have to salvage from the churches for himself. View quote
Lin Yutang
If compelled to indicate my religion on an immigration blank, I might be tempted to put down the word "Taoist," to the amazement of the customs officer who probably never heard of it. View quote
Lin Yutang
The greatest ideal that man can aspire to is not to be a show-case of virtue, but just to be a genial, likable and reasonable human being. (Lin Yutang)
Life after all is made up of eating and sleeping, of meeting and saying good-by to friends, of reunions and farewell parties, of tears and laughter, of having a haircut once in two weeks, of watering a potted flower and watching one's neighbor fall off his roof. View quote
Lin Yutang
One can learn such a lot and enjoy such a lot in seventy years, and three generations is a long, long time to see human follies and acquire human wisdom. Anyone who is wise and has lived long enough to witness the changes of fashion and morals and politics through the rise and fall of three generations should be perfectly satisfied to rise from his seat and go away saying, "It was a good show," when the curtain falls. View quote
Lin Yutang
True peace of mind comes from accepting the worst. View quote
Lin Yutang
I have done my best: that is about all the philosophy of living one needs. View quote
Lin Yutang
Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst. View quote
Lin Yutang
I am doing my best to glorify the scamp or vagabond. View quote
Lin Yutang
This is a personal testimony, a testimony of my own experience of thought and life. It is not intended to be objective and makes no claim to establish eternal truths. In fact I rather despise claims to objectivity in philosophy; the point of view is the thing. View quote
Lin Yutang
That is a final fact of my inner consciousness, and for no religion could I deny its truth. View quote
Lin Yutang
The scamp will be the last and most formidable enemy of dictatorships. He will be the champion of human dignity and individual freedom, and will be the last to be conquered. All modern civilization depends entirely upon him. View quote
Lin Yutang
What is patriotism but love of the good things we ate in our childhood? I have said elsewhere that the loyalty to Uncle Sam is the loyalty to doughnuts and ham and sweet potatoes and the loyalty to the German Vaterland is the loyalty to Pfannkuchen and Christmas Stollen. (Lin Yutang)
This I conceive to be the chemical function of humor: to change the character of our thought. View quote
Lin Yutang
Society can exist only on the basis that there is some amount of polished lying and that no one says exactly what he thinks. View quote
Lin Yutang
I feel, like all modern Americans, no consciousness of sin and simply do not believe in it. All I know is that if God loves me only half as much as my mother does, he will not send me to Hell. That is a final fact of my inner consciousness, and for no religion could I deny its truth. View quote
Lin Yutang
This is a personal testimony, a testimony of my own experience of thought and life. It is not intended to be objective and makes no claim to establish eternal truths. In fact I rather despise claims to objectivity in philosophy; the point of view is the thing. I should have liked to call it "A Lyrical Philosophy," using the word "lyrical" in the sense of being a highly personal and individual outlook... View quote
Lin Yutang