Richard Wilhelm > Quotes

“The two mistakes of indolence and distraction must be combated by quiet work that is carried on daily without interruption; then success will certainly be achieved.”
― Richard Wilhelm, The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life

“If today people sit and meditate only one or two hours, looking only at their own egos, and call this reflection, how can anything come of it?”
― Richard Wilhelm, The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life

“One must not content oneself with small demands but must rise to the thought that all living creatures have to be redeemed. One must not be trivial and irresponsible in heart, but must strive to make deeds prove one’s words.”
― Richard Wilhelm, The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life

“From Mencius ...

"If, however, dogs and swine eat that food which should be eaten by human beings, without thought being taken to put a stop to this practice, if people starve to death on the public highways, without thought being taken as to how to help them, and if one still says, in the face of the extinction of the population, 'It is not I who am to blame for this, but the bad year'—this is just the same as if one stabs a person to death and says, 'It is not I who did this, but the sword.”
― Richard Wilhelm, Confucius and Confucianism.

“Du sollst das Gute in dir zum Meister setzen und das Nichtgute zum Jünger.”
― Richard Wilhelm

“Genuine modesty sets one to creating order and inspires one to begin by disciplining one's own ego and one's immediate circle. Only through having the courage to marshal one's armies against oneself, will something forceful really be achieved.”
― Richard Wilhelm, The I Ching or Book of Changes

“by a thunderbolt. A heavy rain poured down in streams, and a storm wind arose which rooted up the tallest trees. Everything glimmered before his eyes and his ears were deafened. But he held his sword in his hand, and stood as firm as a rock. Suddenly in the midst of black smoke and flashes of lightning, he saw a monster with a pointed beak and long claws, which was carrying off a human body. When he looked more closely he recognized by the dress that it was Giauna. He leaped up at the monster”
― Richard Wilhelm, The Chinese Fairy Book

“Then the tempest cleared away, and the blue sky appeared once more. Giauna had regained consciousness, and when she saw Kung lying dead beside her she said amid sobs: “He died for my sake! Why should I continue to live?” A-Sung also came out, and together they carried him into the cave. Giauna told A-Sung to hold his head while her brother opened his mouth. She herself took hold of his chin, and brought out her little red pellet. She pressed it against his lips with”
― Richard Wilhelm, The Chinese Fairy Book

“This weak creature is now put in an environment full of dangers, full of all kinds of strong forces. But still the Tiger does not bite the man. The judgment says, 'Treading upon the tail of the tiger. It does not bite the man. Success.' This is based on the yearly image, because the great tiger on heaven is representative of cosmis, overpowering forces. Now man must advance and tread on the tail of the tiger. The trigram Ch'ien is in front, trigram Tui follows. But in spite of this great daring, which is in point here, the tiger does not bite the man. Is it because of this helplessness, this helpless joy, which after all is the greatest power on earth? The smiling eyes of a child are more powerful than any malice, any anger. Such eyes disarm even the most depraved, and the tiger does not bite the man who knows to approach him in this way. This then is the art of action. It presupposes being childlike in its highest sense, it presupposes that the joy of heart, internal joy, is preserved intact, and inner trust is offered to one and all. Such trust is accompanied by dignity. The hexagram Treading has Tui, Joyousness, within, and Ch'ien, Strength, without. In some way the image is reminiscent of the boy in the Novelle, who tames the lion with joy and therefore represents a person confronted by cosmic energies. And this constitutes the secret of proper conduct, conduct as the art of living.”
― Richard Wilhelm, Lectures on the I Ching: Constancy and Change

“by a thunderbolt. A heavy rain poured down in streams, and a storm wind arose which rooted up the tallest trees. Everything glimmered before his eyes and his ears were deafened. But he held his sword in his hand, and stood as firm as a rock. Suddenly in the midst of black smoke and flashes of lightning, he saw a monster with a pointed beak and long claws, which was carrying off a human body. When he looked more closely he recognized by the dress that it was Giauna. He leaped up at the monster and struck at him with his sword, and at once Giauna fell to the ground. A”
― Richard Wilhelm, The Chinese Fairy Book

“The knowledge makes possible mastery over fate, because fate can be shaped if its laws are known. The reason why we can oppose fate is that reality is always conditioned, and these conditions of time and space limit and determine it. The spirit, however, is not bound by these determinants and can bring them about as its own purposes require.”
― Richard Wilhelm, The I Ching or Book of Changes