Matsuo Bashō quotes

Matsuo Bashō was a renowned Japanese poet, considered the greatest master of haiku. His works profoundly influenced the development of Japanese literature and poetry. He is remembered for his deep appreciation of nature and his ability to capture fleeting moments with simplicity and beauty. Here are 65 of his quotes:

There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; There is nothing you can think that is not the moon. (Matsuo Bashō)
Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
No matter where your interest lies, you will not be able to accomplish anything unless you bring your deepest devotion to it. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
How I long to see among dawn flowers, the face of God. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
The haiku that reveals seventy to eighty percent of its subject is good. Those that reveal fifty to sixty percent, we never tire of. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
My body, now close to fifty years of age, has become an old tree that bears bitter peaches, a snail which has lost its shell, a bagworm separated from its bag; it drifts with the winds and clouds that know no destination. Morning and night I have eaten traveler's fare, and have held out for alms a pilgrim's wallet. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
Real poetry, is to lead a beautiful life. To live poetry is better than to write it. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows, by itself. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
He who creates three to five haiku poems during a lifetime is a haiku poet. He who attains to completes ten is a master. (Matsuo Bashō)
Nothing in the cry of cicadas suggests they are about to die. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
Come, see the true flowers of this pained world. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
This autumn- why am I growing old? bird disappearing among clouds. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
Between our two lives there is also the life of the cherry blossom. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
Sadly, I part from you; Like a clam torn from its shell, I go, and autumn too. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
Even in Kyoto/Hearing the cuckoo's cry/I long for Kyoto. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
Awakened at midnight by the sound of the water jar cracking from the ice. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
The moon is brighter since the barn burned. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
Ballet in the air... Twin butterflies until, twice white They Meet, they mate. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
On a bare branch a crow is perched - autumn evening. (Matsuo Bashō)
Harvest moon: around the pond I wander and the night is gone. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
Why so scrawny, cat? Starving for fat fish or mice... Or backyard love? View quote
Matsuo Bashō
The moon and sun are travelers through eternity. Even the years wander on. Whether drifting through life on a boat or climbing toward old age leading a horse, each day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. View quote
Matsuo Bashō
When composing a verse let there not be a hair's breath separating your mind from what you write; composition of a poem must be done in an instant, like a woodcutter felling a huge tree or a swordsman leaping at a dangerous enemy. View quote
Matsuo Bashō