Okakura Kakuzo Quotes

Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things.

Those who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are apt to overlook the greatness of little things in others.

In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends.

A garden is a friend you can visit any time.

Tea is more than an idealization of the form of drinking; it is a religion of the art of life.

In our common parlance we speak of the man "with no tea" in him, when he is insusceptible to the serio-comic interests of the personal drama.

It is not the accumulation of extraneous knowledge, but the realization of the self within, that constitutes true progress.

Cares melt when you kneel in your garden.

We take refuge in pride, because we are afraid to tell the truth to ourselves.

Perfection is everywhere if we only choose to recognise it.

Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage.

The art of today is that which really belongs to us: it is our own reflection. In condemning it we but condemn ourselves.

Friends are flowers in life's garden.

The canvas upon which the artist paints is the spectator's mind.

Tea...is a religion of the art of life.

Translation is always a treason, and as a Ming author observes, can at its best be only the reverse side of a brocade- all the threads are there, but not the subtlety of colour or design.

Tea is a work of art and needs a master hand to bring out its noblest qualities. We have good and bad teas, as we have good and bad paintings - generally the latter.