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.
“When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger.”
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
Source: The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation
“And so, pointing fingers become pointing guns, because nobody listens to fingers.”
Source: Gods and Generals
My Life in Court (1961), p. 115.
“I love you more than there are fishes in the sea and higher than the moon”
Variant: I love you more than there are stars in the sky and fish in the sea.
Source: At First Sight
“…in his fingers he has more skill than any of the rest of us.”
Rubinstein remarking on a performance by Maurizio Pollini — reported in Joanne Sheehy Hoover (March 13, 1981) "Captain Of the Keyboard", The Washington Post, p. C1.
Attributed
“3890. Point not at other's Spots with a foul Finger.”
Compare Poor Richard's Almanack (1750) : Clean your Finger, before you point at my Spots.
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)
