Lin Yutang
Lin Yutang
Lin Yutangwas a Chinese writer, translator, linguist and inventor. His informal but polished style in both Chinese and English made him one of the most influential writers of his generation, and his compilations and translations of classic Chinese texts into English were bestsellers in the West...
NationalityChinese
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth10 October 1895
CountryChina
this-life existence admire
There is so much to love and to admire in this life that it is an act of ingratitude not to be happy and content in this existence.
goal tendencies carrie
A tendency to fly too straight at a goal, instead of circling around it, often carries one too far.
positive joy psychology
Such is human psychology that if we don't express our joy, we soon cease to feel it.
inner-peace soul tests
The only test of a soul's salvation is its inward happiness.
believe matter way
It is not so much what you believe in that matters, as the way in which you believe it and proceed to translate that belief into action.
animal tears delight
Let him cry whoever feels like crying, for we were animals before we became reasoning beings, and the shedding of a tear, whether of forgiveness or of pity or of sheer delight at beauty, will do him a lot of good.
friendship occasional plain-speaking
Only friendship which can stand occasional plain speaking is worth having.
wisdom simple simplicity
The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.
country struggle age
All women's dresses, in every age and country, are merely variations on the eternal struggle between the admitted desire to dress and the unadmitted desire to undress.
thinking civilization simplicity
I do not think that any civilization can be called complete until it has progressed from sophistication to unsophistication, and made a conscious return to simplicity of thinking and living.
happiness humans sensuous
All human happiness is sensuous happiness.
men culture cows
Business men who are busy the whole day and immediately go to bed after supper, snoring like cows, are not likely to contribute anything to culture.
common-sense logic spirit
In contrast to logic, there is common sense, or still better, the Spirit of Reasonableness.
moving unhappy bowels
If one's bowels move, one is happy, and if they don't move, one is unhappy. That is all there is to it.