“When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger.”
Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher
“There is an old and very wise Native American saying: Every time you point a finger in scorn—there are three remaining fingers pointing right back at you.”
Source: Fated
Last update June 3, 2021. History
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Bruce Lee (1940–1973) Hong Kong-American actor, martial artist, philosopher and filmmaker
Bruce Lee: Enter the Dragon (1973); In a training session with one of the temple students.
Variant: Its like a finger pointing away to the moon. Dont concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.
Source: Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living
Louis Nizer book My Life in Court
My Life in Court (1961), p. 115.
Robert Hunter (author) (1874–1942) American sociologist, author, golf course architect
Source: Why We Fail as Christians (1919), p. 53
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) Union United States Army officer
My Reviewers Reviewed (lecture from June 27, 1877, San Francisco, CA)
“O but it is a fine thing to have a finger pointed at one, and to hear people say, "That's the man!"”
At pulchrum est digito monstrari et dicier "hic est".
Persius (34–62) ancient latin poet
Satire I, line 28.
The Satires
“3890. Point not at other's Spots with a foul Finger.”
Thomas Fuller (writer) (1654–1734) British physician, preacher, and intellectual
Compare Poor Richard's Almanack (1750) : Clean your Finger, before you point at my Spots.
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)
“No affirmation is more than a finger pointing to the moon.”
Huston Smith book The World's Religions
The World's Religions (1991)
Context: Signposts are not the destination, maps are not the terrain. Life is too rich and textured to be fitted into pigeonholes, let alone equated with them. No affirmation is more than a finger pointing to the moon. And, lest attention turn to the finger, Zen will point, only to withdraw its finger at once.
