The fact that Saigyo composed a poem that begins, “I shall be unhappy without loneliness,” shows that he made loneliness his master.
MATSUO BASHOWhy so scrawny, cat? Starving for fat fish or mice… Or backyard love?
More Matsuo Basho Quotes
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When composing a verse let there not be a hair’s breath separating your mind from what you write; composition of a poem must be done in an instant, like a woodcutter felling a huge tree or a swordsman leaping at a dangerous enemy.
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The basis of art is change in the universe.
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The oak tree: not interested in cherry blossoms.
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Plunge Deep enough in order to see something that is hidden and glimmering.
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A thicket of summer grass / Is all that remains / Of the dreams of ancient warriors.
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Come out to view / the truth of flowers blooming / in poverty.
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With every gust of wind, the butterfly changes its place on the willow.
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A flute with no holes is not a flute.
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Without bitterest cold that penetrates to the very bone, how can plum blossoms send forth their fragrance all over the world?
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Real poetry, is to lead a beautiful life. To live poetry is better than to write it.
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The sea darkens And a wild duck s call Is faintly white.
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How much I desire! Inside my little satchel, the moon, and flowers.
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Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.
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Friends part forever wild geese lost in cloud.
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First snow-falling-on the half-finished bridge.
MATSUO BASHO






