Anthony C. Yu > Quotes

“Treasure a handful of dirt from your home,      But love not ten thousand taels of foreign gold.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“in my opinion those who strive for fame will lose their lives on account of fame; those who live in quest of fortune will perish because of riches; those who have titles sleep embracing a tiger; and those who receive official favors walk with snakes in their sleeves.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“We must be cloaked by the stars and wrapped by the moon; we must dine on the winds and rest by the waters. We move on if there’s a road, and we stop only when we come to its end.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 2

“Canberra and Chicago, but it also allowed us to enjoy several cherished meetings with Professor Liu Ts’un-yan before his passing a few months later. My indebtedness to Professor Liu’s scholarship should be apparent in the introduction”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“Having drunk a few drops off the whetstone, I’ve been sharpened up!”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

“permission. When I began work on the translation long ago, it was an early and ready decision to dedicate the first volume to my wife and our only”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“Truly, he felt like “a cat biting on a urine bubble—all empty delight!”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

“those who have titles sleep embracing a tiger;”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“As the ancients said,     The cat triumphant purrs like a tiger.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

“Do good a thousand days,     But the good is still insufficient;     Do evil for one day,     And that evil is already excessive.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 2

“In Buddhism, the eight emblems would refer to the eight marks of good fortune on the sole of Buddha’s foot—wheel, conch shell, umbrella, canopy, lots flower, jar, pair of fishes, and mystic signs—which, in turn, were symbols of the organs in Buddha’s body.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“She also bit off a little toe from the child’s left foot to establish a mark of his identity.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“it won’t be easy to prepare the vegetarian dishes.” “Why?” asked Pilgrim. “Oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar,” replied Sha Monk, “none of these can be found here.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

“The old man at once pulled some chairs over for them to be seated and asked for tea to be served. He also gave an order for rice to be prepared. In a little while, some tables were brought out on which were placed dishes of fried wheat gluten, bean curds, taro sprouts, white radishes, mustard greens, green turnips, fragrant rice, and mallow soup made with vinegar. Master and disciples thus enjoyed a full meal.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

“This humble cleric,” said Tripitaka, “has hardly any magic power, and he’s dependent on these three lowly disciples throughout the journey.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

“Each palace, with its chimes, drums, pipes, and vertical flutes,     Releases its boudoir sorrows and springtime griefs.     There are in the forbidden courtyard     Young, fresh faces like flowers bedewed;     There are on the palace moat     Slender waists like willows dancing in the wind.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 2

“after which he followed up with the style of “Stealing Peaches beneath the Leaves”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 2

“The Handsome Monkey King had enjoyed this insouciant existence for three or four hundred years when one day, while feasting with the rest of the monkeys, he suddenly grew sad and shed a few tears. Alarmed, the monkeys surrounding him bowed down and asked, "What is disturbing the Great King?" The Monkey King replied, "Though I am very happy at the moment, I am a little concerned about the future. Hence I'm distressed.” The monkeys all laughed and said, "The Great King indeed does not know contentment! Here we daily have a banquet on an immortal mountain in a blessed land, in an ancient cave on a divine continent. We are not subject to the unicorn or the phoenix, nor are we governed by the rulers of mankind. Such independence and comfort are immeasurable blessings. Why, then, does he worry about the future?" The Monkey King said, "Though we are not subject to the laws of man today, nor need we be threatened by the rule of any bird or beast, old age and physical decay in the future will disclose the secret sovereignty of Yama, King of the Underworld. If we die, shall we not have lived in vain, not being able to rank forever among the Heavenly beings?"
When the monkeys heard this, they all covered their faces and wept mournfully, each one troubled by his own impermanence.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 1

“E’en fishes by nature seek authentic Truth,     For to hear scriptures they leap through the waves.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

“That's truly difficult!" said Wukong, "truly difficult!" "Nothing in the world is difficult," said the Patriarch; "only the mind makes it so.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 1