LY

Lin Yutang

187quotes

Quotes by Lin Yutang

Lin Yutang's insights on:

China is the greatest mystifying and stupefying fact in the modern world.
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China is the greatest mystifying and stupefying fact in the modern world.
Humanism and the spirit of reasonableness are associated with the sense of humor and the sense of proportion and rule out fanaticism of all sorts.
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Humanism and the spirit of reasonableness are associated with the sense of humor and the sense of proportion and rule out fanaticism of all sorts.
There seems to be a philosophic contradiction between being busy and being wise. Those who are wise won't be busy, and those who are too busy can't be wise. The wisest man therefore is he who loafs most gracefully.
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There seems to be a philosophic contradiction between being busy and being wise. Those who are wise won't be busy, and those who are too busy can't be wise. The wisest man therefore is he who loafs most gracefully.
I am sure that the heart can shake a throne. It is the wholeness of love that accomplishes great things in this universe.
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I am sure that the heart can shake a throne. It is the wholeness of love that accomplishes great things in this universe.
The secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach.
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The secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach.
When anyone announces that he is going to speak his mind freely, everyone is frightened. This shows that there is no such thing as freedom of speech. No one can afford to let his neighbors know what he is thinking about them. Society can exist only on the basis that there is some amount of polished lying and that no one says exactly what he thinks.
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When anyone announces that he is going to speak his mind freely, everyone is frightened. This shows that there is no such thing as freedom of speech. No one can afford to let his neighbors know what he is thinking about them. Society can exist only on the basis that there is some amount of polished lying and that no one says exactly what he thinks.
Is it not our weakness that makes our strength?
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Is it not our weakness that makes our strength?
Men resort to talking only when they haven’t the power to enforce their convictions upon others.
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Men resort to talking only when they haven’t the power to enforce their convictions upon others.
When we demand liberty of a person as a constitutional right, we are taking away from the officials their liberty to chop off people’s heads.
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When we demand liberty of a person as a constitutional right, we are taking away from the officials their liberty to chop off people’s heads.
A man who has to be punctually at a certain place at five o’clock has the whole afternoon ruined for him already.
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A man who has to be punctually at a certain place at five o’clock has the whole afternoon ruined for him already.
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