William Gaddis

Merry Christmas! the man threatened.

That was Youth with its reckless exuberance when all things were possible pursued by Age where we are now, looking back at what we destroyed, what we tore away from that self who could do more, and its work that’s become my enemy because that’s what I can tell you about, that Youth who could do anything.

That after an hour’s silence he can say, The one thing I cannot stand is dampness… That’s all, it took him an hour to work that out.

Fearful of missing anything, he read on, filled with this anticipation which was half terror, of coming upon something which would touch him, not simply touch him but lift him and carry him away.

Justice? – You get justice in the next world. In this one you have the law.

I mean why should somebody go steal and break the law to get all they can when there’s always some law where you can be legal and get it all anyway!

I’ve been up the mountain and I had a choice. Should I come down? So I came down. God said, Okay, you’ve been up on the mountain, now you go down. You’re on your own, free. Check in later, but now you’re on your own.

I believe that our Heavenly Father invented man because he was disappointed in the monkey.

The valley stream’s rushing sound is the eloquent tongue of Buddha. The mountain’s vibrant colours are nothing but the Buddha’s form.

To be calm is the highest achievement of the self.

The Kingdom of God is Within You,

God cannot alter the past, though historians can.

I would like to believe there is a God, but I think it is better to say I’m not sure there is a God and live your life with kindness and respect for people than to say I know there is a God and then do bad things,

Our God is a forgiving God.

Still water has no mind to receive the image of the migrating geese.

[on enlightenment] Body and mind dropped off.

Tao in the world is like a river flowing home to the sea.

A miracle is an event which creates faith. That is the purpose and nature of miracles. Frauds deceive. An event which creates faith does not deceive: therefore it is not a fraud, but a miracle.

The greatest impurity is ignorance. Free yourself from it. Be pure.

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

Believe in something larger than yourself…get involved in the big ideas of your time.