James Clavell Quotes

Quotes about:

• It's a saying they have, that a man has a false heart in his mouth for the world to see, another in his breast to show to his special friends and his family, and the real one, the true one, the secret one, which is never known to anyone except to himself alone, hidden only God knows where.

  James Clavell

  Real, Heart, Men

  James Clavell (2013). “Shogun: The First Novel of the Asian saga”, p.196, Hachette UK

  59 Copy quote

• All stories have a beginning, a middle and an ending, and if they're any good, the ending is a beginning.

  James Clavell

  Stories, Middle, Ifs

  Interview with Don Swaim of CBS Radio, 1986.

  32 Copy quote

• To think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral down into ever increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort. This is one of the things that discipline and training is all about.

  James Clavell

  Thinking, Discipline, Effort

  James Clavell (2009). “Shogun”, p.94, Dell

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• Karma is the beginning of knowledge. Next is patience. Patience is very important. The strong are the patient ones, Anjin-san. patience means holding back your inclination to the seven emotions: hate, adoration, joy, anxiety, anger, grief, fear. If you don't give way to the seven, you're patient, then you'll soon understand all manner of things and be in harmony with Eternity.

  James Clavell

  Karma, Strong, Hate

  JAMES CLAVELL (1975). “SHOGUN”

  23 Copy quote

• You never know . . . that's what makes life interesting.

  James Clavell

  Interesting, Knows

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• Patience means restraining yourself. There are seven emotions, Joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate. If a man doesn't give way to these, he's patient. I'm not as strong as I might be but I'm patient.

  James Clavell

  Strong, Hate, Grief

  James Clavell (2009). “Shogun”, p.1131, Dell

  21 Copy quote

• Leave the problems of God to God and karma to karma. Today you're here and nothing you do will change that. Today you are alive and here and honored and blessed with good fortune. Look at this suset, it's beautiful, neh? This sunset exists. Tomorrow does not exist. There is only now. Please look. It is so beautiful and it will never happen ever again, never, not this sunset, never in all infinity. Lose yourself in it, make yourself one with nature and do not worry about karma, yours, mine, or that of the village.

  James Clavell

  Beautiful, Karma, Blessed

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• How beautiful life is and how sad! How fleeting, with no past and no future, only a limitless now.

  James Clavell

  Beautiful, Past, Fleeting

  James Clavell (2009). “Shogun”, p.210, Dell

  10 Copy quote

• So much of 'normal, civilized' life is bull that you can't imagine... What frightens you, doesn't frighten me, what frightens me, you'd laugh at.

  James Clavell

  Laughter, Fear, Laughing

  "Noble House". Book by James Clavell, April 1981.

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• Only by living at the edge of death can you understand the indescribable joy of life - Shogun.

  James Clavell

  Joy, Shoguns, Indescribable

  James Clavell (2009). “Shogun”, p.979, Dell

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• Anger is something you should only vent in front of intimates, and friends and relations. Never be angry in front of strangers because you lose face.

  James Clavell

  Faces, Stranger, Should

  Source: www.indielondon.co.uk

  21 Copy quote

• The scarcity of years does not necessitate lack of wisdom.

  James Clavell

  Years, Doe, Scarcity

  James Clavell (2008). “King Rat”, p.192, Dell

  4 Copy quote

• Isn’t it only through laughter that we become one with the gods and thus can endure life and can overcome all the horror and waste and suffering here on earth? …Isn’t it only through laughter we can stay human?

  James Clavell

  Laughter, Suffering, Overcoming

  James Clavell (2009). “Shogun”, p.379, Dell

  16 Copy quote

• The search for the truth is the most important work in the whole world - and the most dangerous.

  James Clavell

  Important, World, Truth Is

  "Fictional character: Francois Delambre". "The Fly", July 16, 1958.

  9 Copy quote

• Changi became my university instead of my prison. Among the inmates there were experts in all walks of life - the high and the low roads. I studied and absorbed everything I could from physics to counterfeiting, but most of all I learned the art of surviving.

  James Clavell

  Art, Experts, Inmates

  "James Clavell, Best-Selling Storyteller of Far Eastern Epics, Is Dead at 69" by William Grimes, www.nytimes.com. September 8, 1994.

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• .., by universal custom, your enemy is never more polite than when he is planning or has planned your destruction.

  James Clavell

  Enemy, Planning, Destruction

  James Clavell (2009). “Shogun”, p.279, Dell

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• Wars are fought by teenagers, you realize that. They really ought to be fought by the politicians and old people who start these wars.

  James Clavell

  War, Teenager, People

  Interview with Don Swaim of CBS Radio, 1986.

  8 Copy quote

• Guard yourself and your conscience no one else will and know that a bad decision at the right time can destroy you far more surely than any bullet!

  James Clavell

  Decision, Bullets, Right Time

  James Clavell (2008). “King Rat”, p.180, Dell

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• Love is a Christian word, Anjin-san. Love is a Christian thought, a Christian ideal. We have no word for 'love' as I understand you to mean it. Duty, loyalty, honor, respect, desire, those words and thoughts are what we have, all that we need.

  James Clavell

  Christian, Loyalty, Mean

  James Clavell (2009). “Shogun”, p.352, Dell

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• I write short stories. They may appear big in size, but when you consider it, they're four or five novels in one... In return for picking up one of my books, I'm trying to give them value for their money... the goal of writing any book is to create the illusion that what you are reading is reality and you're part of it.

  James Clavell

  Book, Reading, Writing

  Interview with Don Swaim of CBS Radio, 1986.

  14 Copy quote

• What are clouds, but an excuse for the sky? What is life, but an escape from death?

  James Clavell

  Clouds, Sky, Excuse

  James Clavell (2009). “Shogun”, p.1132, Dell

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• How baffling it was that even the most cunning and clever people would frequently see only what they wanted to see, and would rarely look beyond the thinnest of facades. Or they would ignore reality, dismissing it as the facade. And then, when their whole world fell to pieces...they would tear their topknots or rend their clothes and bewail their karma, blaming gods or kami or luck or their lords or husbands or vassals-anything or anyone-but never themselves.

  James Clavell

  Karma, Clever, Husband

  James Clavell (2009). “Shogun”, p.712, Dell

  4 Copy quote

• What can I do to help thee?" he asked. "Believe there is a tomorrow.

  James Clavell

  Believe, Helping, Tomorrow

  JAMES CLAVELL (1975). “SHOGUN”

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• Life and death are the same...Leave karma to karma.

  James Clavell

  Karma, Life And Death

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• The more I know, the more sure I am I know so little. The eternal paradox.

  James Clavell

  Littles, Paradox, Eternal

  "Fictional character: Andre Delambre". "The Fly", July 16, 1958.

  7 Copy quote

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