If you study the writings of the mystics, you will always find things in them that appear to be paradoxes, as in Zen, particularly.

Quote by Alan Watts

Topics: Alan Watts Quotes

You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave...

You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave...

The difficulty for most of us in the modern world is that the old-fashioned idea...

The difficulty for most of us in the modern world is that the old-fashioned idea...

But my dear man, reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

But my dear man, reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

Some believe all that parents, tutors, and kindred believe. They take their principles by inheritance,...

Some believe all that parents, tutors, and kindred believe. They take their principles by inheritance,...

The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention.

The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention.

I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in...

I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in...

The style of God venerated in the church, mosque, or synagogue seems completely different from...

The style of God venerated in the church, mosque, or synagogue seems completely different from...

Religion is not a department of life; it is something that enters into the whole...

Religion is not a department of life; it is something that enters into the whole...

Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not...

Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not...

The moralist is the person who tells people that they ought to be unselfish, when...

The moralist is the person who tells people that they ought to be unselfish, when...

Things are as they are. Looking out into it the universe at night, we make...

Things are as they are. Looking out into it the universe at night, we make...

The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it...

The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it...

We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain.

We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain.

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

So then, the relationship of self to other is the complete realization that loving yourself...

So then, the relationship of self to other is the complete realization that loving yourself...

And the attitude of faith is the very opposite of clinging to belief, of holding...

And the attitude of faith is the very opposite of clinging to belief, of holding...

Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to...

Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to...

In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to...

In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to...

I owe my solitude to other people.

I owe my solitude to other people.

But I'll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far...

But I'll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far...