“And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon.”
Edward Lear The Owl and the Pussycat
Source: The Owl and the Pussycat
“We take a handful of sand from the endless landscape of awareness around us and call that handful of sand the world.”
Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
Last update June 3, 2021. History
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Robert M. Pirsig164
American writer and philosopher 1928–2017Related quotes
“We call it a grain of sand
but it calls itself neither grain nor sand.”
Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012) Polish writer
"View with a Grain of Sand"
Poems New and Collected (1998), The People on the Bridge (1986)
Context: We call it a grain of sand
but it calls itself neither grain nor sand.
It does just fine without a name,
whether general, particular,
permanent, passing,
incorrect or apt.
William Blake Auguries of Innocence
Variant: To see a World in a grain of sand,
And a Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.
Source: 1800s, Auguries of Innocence (1803), Line 1
Aaron Sorkin (1961) American screenwriter, producer, playwright
The West Wing, Season Two Commentary Track: Noel.
“Keep your hands open, and all the sands of the desert can pass through them.”
Taisen Deshimaru (1914–1982) Japanese Buddhist monk
As quoted in Zen to Go (1989) by Jon Winokur, p. 126
Context: Keep your hands open, and all the sands of the desert can pass through them. Close them, and all you can feel is a bit of grit.
Mike Scott (1958) songwriter, musician
"Church Not Made With Hands"
A Pagan Place (1984)
Context: She is everywhere and noplace
Like a breath or like a wind
she moves among men
They would seek to hold her as a prize
But she is in the shadows,
the ocean and the sand
She is everywhere and noplace,
Her church not made with handsUncontained by man.
Ramakrishna (1836–1886) Indian mystic and religious preacher
Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 370
Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist
Song lyrics, Shot of Love (1981), Every Grain Of Sand
“How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand? How do you keep a wave upon the sand?”
L. K. Samuels (1951) American writer
These words from The Sound of Music bring out the elusive nature of chaos. In life, most things cannot be captured for long. It is like trying to encapsulate time itself.
Source: In Defense of Chaos: The Chaology of Politics, Economics and Human Action, (2013), p. vii