Lin Yutang Quotes

Quotes about:

• 

  Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.

  Lin Yutang

  Motivational, Time, Art

  "Pearls of Wisdom: A Harvest of Quotations From All Ages" by Jerome Agel and Walter D. Glanze, (p. 46), 1987.

  83 Copy quote

  Report

• When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set.

  Lin Yutang

  Business, Mean, Men

  "Hard-to-Solve Cryptograms" by Derrick Niederman, (p. 96), 2001.

  41 Copy quote

  Report

• The most bewildering thing about man is his idea of work and the amount of work he imposes upon himself, or civilization has imposed upon him. All nature loafs, while man alone works for a living.

  Lin Yutang

  Men, Civilization, Ideas

  Lin Yutang (1937). “The Importance of Living”

  2 Copy quote

  Report

• Those who are wise won't be busy, and those who are too busy can't be wise.

  Lin Yutang

  Wise, Busy, Being Wise

  Lin Yutang (1937). “The Importance of Living”

  43 Copy quote

  Report

• Once Confucius was walking on the mountains and he came across a woman weeping by a grave. He asked the woman what here sorrow was, and she replied, We are a family of hunters. My father was eaten by a tiger. My husband was bitten by a tiger and died. And now my only son! Why don't you move down and live in the valley? Why do you continue to live up here? asked Confucius. And the woman replied, But sir, there are no tax collectors here! Confucius added to his disciples, You see, a bad government is more to be feared than tigers.

  Lin Yutang

  Husband, Father, Moving

  21 Copy quote

  Report

• There is so much to love and to admire in this life that it is an act of ingratitude not to be happy and content in this existence.

  Lin Yutang

  This Life, Existence, Admire

  Yutang Lin (1962). “The pleasures of a nonconformist”

  29 Copy quote

  Report

• The man who has not the habit of reading is imprisoned in his immediate world.

  Lin Yutang

  Reading, Men, World

  22 Copy quote

  Report

• So much of unhappiness, it seems to me, is due to nerves; and bad nerves are the result of having nothing to do, or doing a thing badly, unsuccessfully or incompetently. Of all the unhappy people in the world, the unhappiest are those who have not found something they want to do. True happiness comes to those who do their work well, followed by a refreshing period of rest. True happiness comes from the right amount of work for the day.

  Lin Yutang

  Work, People, Unhappy

  32 Copy quote

  Report

• On the whole, the enjoyment of leisure is something which decidedly costs less than the enjoyment of luxury. All it requires is an artistic temperament which is bent on seeking a perfectly useless afternoon spent in a perfectly useless manner.

  Lin Yutang

  Inspirational, Life, Learning

  "The Importance of Living" by Lin Yutang, (p. 153), 1937.

  57 Copy quote

  Report

• We should not expect people to be good, but should make it impossible for them to be bad.

  Lin Yutang

  People, Society, Impossible

  Yutang Lin (1936). “My country and my people”

  16 Copy quote

  Report

• Instead of holding on to the Biblical view that we are made in the image of God, we come to realize that we are made in the image of the monkey.

  Lin Yutang

  Biblical, Views, Monkeys

  Lin Yutang (1937). “The Importance of Living”

  22 Copy quote

  Report

• Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.

  Lin Yutang

  Inspirational, Encouraging, Faith

  33 Copy quote

  Report

• 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.

  Lin Yutang

  Insane, Asylums, West

  Lin Yutang (1937). “The Importance of Living”

  12 Copy quote

  Report

• The Chinese do not draw any distinction between food and medicine.

  Lin Yutang

  Medicine, Chinese, Distinction

  The Importance of Living ch. 9 (1938)

  22 Copy quote

  Report

• Love is an immortal wound that cannot be closed up. A person loses something, a part of her soul, when she loves someone. And she goes about looking for that lost part of her soul, for she knows that otherwise she is incomplete and cannot be at rest. It is only when she is with the person she loves that she becomes complete again in herself; but the moment he leaves, she loses that part which he has taken with him and knows no rest till she has found him once more.

  Lin Yutang

  Love, Taken, Soul

  24 Copy quote

  Report

• There is a great probability that our loss of capacity for enjoying the positive joys of life is largely due to the decreased sensibility of our senses and our lack of full use of them. All human happiness is sensuous happiness.

  Lin Yutang

  Philosophy, Loss, Medicine

  Lin Yutang (2013). “Lin Yutang - The Importance Of Living”, p.73, Read Books Ltd

  24 Copy quote

  Report

• No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.

  Lin Yutang

  Beautiful, Travel, Home

  Lin Yutang (1940). “With Love and Irony”

  53 Copy quote

  Report

• There is nothing more beautiful in this world than a healthy, wise old man.

  Lin Yutang

  Inspirational, Beautiful, Wise

  Lin Yutang (1937). “The Importance of Living”

  21 Copy quote

  Report

• Sometimes there are more tears than laughter, and sometimes there is more laughter than tears, and sometimes you feel so choked you can neither weep nor laugh. For tears and laughter there will always be so long as there is human life. When our tear wells have run dry and the voice of laughter is silenced, the world will be truly dead.

  Lin Yutang

  Running, Laughter, Voice

  Lin Yutang, (2013). “Between Tears and Laughter”, p.13, Read Books Ltd

  7 Copy quote

  Report

• I am willing to allow that smoking is a moral weakness, but on the other hand, we must beware of the man without weaknesses. He is not to be trusted. He is apt to be always sober and he cannot make a single mistake. His habits are likely to be regular, his existence more mechanical and his head always maintains its supremacy over his heart. Much as I like reasonable persons, I hate completely rational beings.

  Lin Yutang

  Mistake, Hate, Heart

  Lin Yutang (1937). “The Importance of Living”

  10 Copy quote

  Report

• The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.

  Lin Yutang

  Letting Go, Wisdom, Simple

  Lin Yutang (1937). “The Importance of Living”

  20 Copy quote

  Report

• Where there are too many policemen, there is no liberty. Where there are too many soldiers, there is no peace. Where there are too many lawyers, there is no justice.

  Lin Yutang

  Inspirational, Motivational, Veterans Day

  10 Copy quote

  Report

• I have done my best. That is about all the philosophy of living one needs.

  Lin Yutang

  Appreciation, Attitude, Philosophy

  22 Copy quote

  Report

• Sometimes it is more important to discover what one cannot do, than what one can do.

  Lin Yutang

  Inspirational, Volleyball, Wisdom

  19 Copy quote

  Report

• There is something in the nature of tea that leads us into a world of quiet contemplation of life.

  Lin Yutang

  Tea, World, Quiet

  Lin Yutang (1937). “The Importance of Living”

  20 Copy quote

  Report

Page 1 of 6

← Prev

1

2

3

4

5

6

Next →

• facebook
• twitter
• googleplus
• email
• linkedin