28+ Yoshida Kenko Quotes On Idleness, Reading And Writing And Writing Meaning

Yoshida Kenko was a Japanese author and Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185-1333). He is best known for his work Tsurezuregusa, a collection of essays on various topics such as love, death, and Buddhist philosophy. His other works include Hojoki and Essays in Idleness. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Yoshida Kenko on love, leadership, idleness.

Top 10 Yoshida Kenko Quotes

1. If man were never to fade away ... but lingered on forever in the world, how things would lose their power to move us. The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty.
2. On a moonlit night, after a snowfall, or under cherry blossoms, it adds to our pleasure if, while chatting at our ease, we bring forth the wine cups.
3. ... For such as truly love the world, a thousand years would fade like the dream of one night.
4. Blossoms are scattered by the wind and the wind cares nothing but the blossoms of the heart no wind can touch.
5. Life's most precious gift is uncertainty.
6. In everything, no matter what it may be, uniformity is undesirable. Leaving something incomplete makes it interesting, and gives one the feeling that there is room for growth
7. The pleasantest of all diversions is to sit alone under the lamp, a book spread out before you, and to make friends with people of a distant past you have never known.
8. Ambition never comes to an end.
9. One should write not unskillfully in the running hand, be able to sing in a pleasing voice and keep good time to music; and, lastly, a man should not refuse a little wine when it is pressed upon him.
10. The truth is at the beginning of anything and its end are alike touching.

Yoshida Kenko Short Quotes

• The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty
• Leave undone whatever you hesitate to do.
• There is nothing finer than to be alone with nothing to distract you.

Yoshida Kenko Famous Quotes And Sayings

Are we to look at cherry blossoms only in full bloom, the moon only when it is cloudless? To long for the moon while looking on the rain, to lower the blinds and be unaware of the passing of the spring - these are even more deeply moving. Branches about to blossom or gardens strewn with flowers are worthier of our admiration. — Yoshida Kenko

The hour of death waits for no order. Death does not even come from the front. It is ever pressing on from behind. All men know of death, but they do not expect it of a sudden, and it comes upon them unawares. So, though the dry flats extend far out, soon the tide comes and floods the beach. — Yoshida Kenko

If you imagine that once you have accomplished your ambitions you will have time to turn to the Way, you will discover that your ambitions never come to an end. — Yoshida Kenko

To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you hold intimate converse with men of unseen generations -- such is pleasure beyond compare. — Yoshida Kenko

You should never put the new antlers of a deer to your nose and smell them. They have little insects that crawl into the nose and devour the brain. — Yoshida Kenko

If we lived forever, if the dews of Adashino never vanished, if the crematory smoke on Toribeyama never faded, men would hardly feel the pity of things. The beauty of life is in its impermanence. Man lives the longest of all living things... and even one year lived peacefully seems very long. Yet for such as love the world, a thousand years would fade like the dream of one night. — Yoshida Kenko

A certain recluse, I know not who, once said that no bonds attached him to this life, and the only thing he would regret leaving was the sky. — Yoshida Kenko

What a strange, demented feeling it gives me when I realize I have spent whole days before this ink stone, with nothing better to do, jotting down at random whatever nonsensical thoughts have entered my head. — Yoshida Kenko

If life were eternal, all interest and anticipation would vanish. It is uncertainty which lends it fascination. — Yoshida Kenko

It is a most wonderful comfort to sit alone beneath a lamp, book spread before you, and commune with someone from the past whom you have never met. — Yoshida Kenko

Even members of the nobility, let alone persons of no consequence, would do well not to have children. — Yoshida Kenko

Though a man excels in everything, unless he has been a lover his life is lonely, and he may be likened to a jewelled cup which can contain no wine. — Yoshida Kenko

If you must take care that your opinions do not differ in the least from those of the person with whom you are talking, you might just as well be alone. — Yoshida Kenko

The true criminal must be defined as a man who commits a crime though he is as decently fed and clothed as others. — Yoshida Kenko

In everything, no matter what it may be, uniformity is undesirable. Leaving something incomplete makes it interesting, and gives one the feeling that there is room for growth. Someone once told me, "Even when building the imperial palace, they always leave one place unfinished." In both Buddhist and Confucian writings of the philosophers of former times, there are also many missing chapters. — Yoshida Kenko

Life Lessons by Yoshida Kenko

1. Yoshida Kenko's work emphasizes the importance of living in the present moment, as he believes that life is fleeting and should be savored.
2. He also encourages readers to take time to appreciate the beauty of nature and to find joy in the simple things in life.
3. Through his writing, he teaches us to be mindful of our actions and to be grateful for the small blessings in life.