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28 Inspirational Matsuo Basho Quotes (HAIKU)

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Top 10 Most Famous Matsuo Basho Quotes (BEST)

“The moon and sun are travelers through eternity. Even the years wander on. Whether drifting through life on a boat or climbing toward old age leading a horse, each day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.”

Matsuo Basho
Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought.
Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought.
Real poetry, is to lead a beautiful life. To live poetry is better than to write it.
Real poetry, is to lead a beautiful life. To live poetry is better than to write it.
Learn how to listen as things speak for themselves.
Learn how to listen as things speak for themselves.
Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.
Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.
No matter where your interest lies, you will not be able to accomplish anything unless you bring your deepest devotion to it.
No matter where your interest lies, you will not be able to accomplish anything unless you bring your deepest devotion to it.
There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.
There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.
Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows, by itself.
Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows, by itself.
The desire to break the silence with constant human noise is, I believe, precisely an avoidance of the sacred terror of that divine encounter.
The desire to break the silence with constant human noise is, I believe, precisely an avoidance of the sacred terror of that divine encounter.
Without bitterest cold that penetrates to the very bone, how can plum blossoms send forth their fragrance all over the world?
Without bitterest cold that penetrates to the very bone, how can plum blossoms send forth their fragrance all over the world?

8 Inspirational Matsuo Basho Quotes About Nature

“Make the universe your companion, always bearing in mind the true nature of things – mountains and rivers, trees and grasses, and humanity – and enjoy the falling blossoms and the scattering leaves.”

Matsuo Basho
Between our two lives there is also the life of the cherry blossom.
Between our two lives there is also the life of the cherry blossom.
Come, see the true flowers of this pained world.
Come, see the true flowers of this pained world.
How I long to see among dawn flowers, the face of God.
How I long to see among dawn flowers, the face of God.
Summer grasses, all that remains Of soldiers' dreams.
Summer grasses, all that remains Of soldiers’ dreams.
The temple bell stops But the sound keeps coming out of the flowers.
The temple bell stops But the sound keeps coming out of the flowers.
Harvest moon around the pond I wander and the night is gone.
Harvest moon: around the pond I wander and the night is gone.
Come, butterfly It's late. We've miles to go together.
Come, butterfly It’s late. We’ve miles to go together.

6 Wise Matsuo Basho Quotes About Poems and Learning

“When composing a verse let there not be a hair’s breath separating your mind from what you write; composition of a poem must be done in an instant, like a woodcutter felling a huge tree or a swordsman leaping at a dangerous enemy.”

Matsuo Basho
A flute with no holes is not a flute.
A flute with no holes is not a flute.

“Go to the pine if you want to learn about the pine, or to the bamboo if you want to learn about the bamboo. And in doing so, you must leave your subjective preoccupation with yourself. Otherwise you impose yourself on the object and you do not learn.”

Matsuo Basho
Learn the rules, and then forget them.
Learn the rules, and then forget them.

“Operating superficially, the mind is random in its activity and stale in its insights and images. However, with practice and experience the mind is freed from the skull, and the fresh and new can appear as though for the first time.”

Matsuo Basho
Before enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water.
Before enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water.

4 Matsuo Basho Quotes on Life and Death

“In this poor body, composed of one hundred bones and nine openings, is something called spirit, a flimsy curtain swept this way and that by the slightest breeze. It is spirit, such as it is, which led me to poetry, at first little more than a pastime, then the full business of my life. There have been times when my spirit, so dejected, almost gave up the quest, other times when it was proud, triumphant. So it has been from the very start, never finding peace with itself, always doubting the worth of what it makes.”

Matsuo Basho
Nothing in the cry of cicadas suggests they are about to die.
Nothing in the cry of cicadas suggests they are about to die.
Every moment of life is the last, every poem is a death poem.
Every moment of life is the last, every poem is a death poem.
Traveler's heart. Never settled long in one place. Like a portable fire.
Traveler’s heart. Never settled long in one place. Like a portable fire.

(MUST READ) Basho: The Complete Haiku

Basho: The Complete Haiku
Basho: The Complete Haiku

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Inspirational Matsuo Basho Quotes (HAIKU) - Gracious Quotes