He grows daily more capable of following any inspiration without technical effort, and also of letting inspiration come to him through meticulous observation.

In the case of archery, the hitter and the hit are no longer two opposing objects, but are one reality.

The shot will go smoothly only when it takes the archer himself by surprise.

The more a human being feels himself a self, tries to intensify this self and reach a never-attainable perfection, the more drastically he steps out of the center of being.

The right shot at the right moment does not come because you do not let go of yourself. You do not wait for fulfilment, but brace yourself for failure.

By letting go of yourself, leaving yourself and everything yours behind so decisively that nothing more is left of you but a purposeless tension .

You must act as if the goal were infinitely far off.

Far from wishing to awaken the artist in the pupil prematurely, the teacher considers it his first task to make him a skilled artisan with sovereign control of his craft.

This, then, is what counts: a lightning reaction which has no further need of conscious observation. In this respect at least the pupil makes himself independent of all conscious purpose.

The man, the art, the work--it is all one.

Zen Buddhism does not preach. Sermons remain words. It waits until people feel stifled and insecure, driven by a secret longing.

The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.

Paint right into the darkness. While painting in these conditions the mind shifts gears, engaging the unconscious. Unique 'insights' happen in the dark.

The movement of grace toward gratitude brings us from the package of self-obsessed madness to a spiritual awakening.

restraint equals indulgence

Really, improv is all about creating for what's around you, in the moment, so it fits in a way that you can't see the seams. It's like a great jazz combo. I still do it.

Everybody in the world has a different reason for wishing they could say things that most people know not to say.

The world is a great poem, and the world's The words it is writ in, and we souls the thoughts.

It has been said that sometimes we need a story more than food in order to live. p 374

I will write with honesty and feeling.

There is always a better way.