The fact that Saigyo composed a poem that begins, “I shall be unhappy without loneliness,” shows that he made loneliness his master.
MATSUO BASHOApril’s air stirs in Willow-leaves, a butterfly Floats and balances.
More Matsuo Basho Quotes
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There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.
MATSUO BASHO -
The haiku that reveals seventy to eighty percent of its subject is good. Those that reveal fifty to sixty percent, we never tire of.
MATSUO BASHO -
The desire to break the silence with constant human noise is, I believe, precisely an avoidance of the sacred terror of that divine encounter.
MATSUO BASHO -
The moon is brighter since the barn burned.
MATSUO BASHO -
The basis of art is change in the universe.
MATSUO BASHO -
When I speak My lips feel cold – The autumn wind.
MATSUO BASHO -
The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.
MATSUO BASHO -
I hope to have gathered To repay your kindness The willow leaves Scattered in the garden.
MATSUO BASHO -
Farewell, my old fan. / Having scribbled on it, / What could I do but tear it / At the end of summer?
MATSUO BASHO -
He who creates three to five haiku poems during a lifetime is a haiku poet. He who attains to completes ten is a master.
MATSUO BASHO -
With every gust of wind, the butterfly changes its place on the willow.
MATSUO BASHO -
A flute with no holes is not a flute.
MATSUO BASHO -
Spring rain conveyed under the trees in drops.
MATSUO BASHO -
No matter where your interest lies, you will not be able to accomplish anything unless you bring your deepest devotion to it.
MATSUO BASHO -
Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought.
MATSUO BASHO