The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it becomes. It is like trying to clutch water in ones hands. The harder we grip, the more it slips through our fingers.

Quote by Alan Watts

Topics: Change Quotes, Effort Quotes, Present Quotes

I owe my solitude to other people.

I owe my solitude to other people.

Wars based on principle are far more destructive...the attacker will not destroy that which he...

Wars based on principle are far more destructive...the attacker will not destroy that which he...

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen...

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen...

But we try to pretend, you see, that the external world exists altogether independently of...

But we try to pretend, you see, that the external world exists altogether independently of...

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...

Really, the fundamental, ultimate mystery -- the only thing you need to know to understand...

Really, the fundamental, ultimate mystery -- the only thing you need to know to understand...

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen...

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen...

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...

But at any rate, the point is that God is what nobody admits to being,...

But at any rate, the point is that God is what nobody admits to being,...

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.

Saints need sinners.

Saints need sinners.

Omnipotence is not knowing how everything is done; it's just doing it.

Omnipotence is not knowing how everything is done; it's just doing it.

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,...

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...

But to me nothing - the negative, the empty - is exceedingly powerful.

But to me nothing - the negative, the empty - is exceedingly powerful.

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...

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

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

What the devil is the point of surviving, going on living, when it's a drag?...

What the devil is the point of surviving, going on living, when it's a drag?...

So what is discord at one level of your being is harmony at another level.

So what is discord at one level of your being is harmony at another level.

In known history, nobody has had such capacity for altering the universe than the people...

In known history, nobody has had such capacity for altering the universe than the people...