Shěn Fù 沈復 > Quotes

“The world is so vast, but still everyone looks up at the same moon”
― Fu Shen, Six Records of a Floating Life

“If you like something, you don't care if it's ugly.”
― Shen Fu, The Old Man of the Moon

“In laying out gardens, pavilions, wandering paths, small mountains of stone, and flower paintings, try to give the feeling of the small in the large and the large in the small, of the real in the illusion, and of the illusion in reality. Some things should be hidden and some should be obvious, some prominent and some vague. Arranging a proper garden is not just a matter of setting out winding paths in a broad area with many rocks; thinking that it is will only waste time and energy.”
― Shen Fu, Six Records of a Floating Life

“She understood what my eyes said, and the language of my brows. She did everything according to my expression, and everything she did was as I wished it.”
― Shen Fu, The Old Man of the Moon

“Most arguments people have begin with joke.”
― Shen Fu, The Old Man of the Moon

“True respect comes from the heart, not from empty words.”
― Shen Fu, The Old Man of the Moon

“Every time the wind would rustle the bamboo trees in the yard, or the moon would shine through the leaves of the banana tree outside my window, I would look out and miss her so terribly that dreams of her took possession of my soul.”
― Shen Fu, The Old Man of the Moon

“We grow thin in the shadows of Autumn, but chrysanthemums grow fat with dew.”
― Shen Fu, Six Records of a Floating Life

“I wonder if there is another couple in the world as much in love as we are.”
― Shen Fu, The Old Man of the Moon

“I would look out and miss her so terribly that dreams of her took possession of my soul.”
― Shěn Fù, The Old Man of the Moon

“I felt like a bird that had lost its flock. My world was shaken.”
― Shen Fu, The Old Man of the Moon

“On the other hand, she prized shabby old books and tattered paintings. She would take the partial remnants of books, separate them all into sections by topic, and then have them rebound. These she called her 'Fragments of Literature'. When she found some calligraphy or a painting that had been ruined, she felt she had to search for a piece of old paper on which to remount it. If there were portions missing, she would ask me to restore them. These she named the 'Collection of Discarded Delights'.”
― shen fu, The Old Man of the Moon

“That which they seldom see they consider most wonderful.”
― Shěn Fù, The Old Man of the Moon

“It's true that heaven watches over the good.”
― Shěn Fù, The Old Man of the Moon

“So every morning I got up early with her, and from that time on we were inseparable, like a man and his shadow. Words could not describe our love.”
― Shěn Fù, The Old Man of the Moon

“And whose fault was it that she died? It was my fault, what else can I say? I would advise all the husbands and wives in the world not to hate one another, certainly, but also not to love too deeply. As it is said, 'An affectionate couple cannot grow old together.”
― Shen Fu, The Old Man of the Moon

“Even someone who lives a hundred years must still die one day.”
― Shěn Fù, The Old Man of the Moon

“The events of that day were another omen that we were not to grow old together.”
― Shěn Fù, The Old Man of the Moon

“In the midst of life, I have been just like an Immortal. But a true Immortal must go through many incarnations before reaching enlightenment.”
― Shěn Fù, The Old Man of the Moon

“Our souls became smoke and mist.”
― Shěn Fù, The Old Man of the Moon

“She spent all day with me as I studied, and we talked of ancient times, analysed the moon, and discussed the flowers.”
― Shěn Fù, The Old Man of the Moon

“The world is so vast, but still everyone looks up at the same moon. I wonder if there is another couple in the world as much in love as we are.”
― Shen Fu, The Old Man of the Moon

“When I shut my eyes I feels as if I'm floating, as if I were walking in the mist. Is my spirit leaving me, while only my body remains?”
― Shen Fu, The Old Man of the Moon