“There is nothing you can see that is not a flower;
There is nothing you can think that is not the moon.”

— Bashō Matsuo

見るところ花にあらずと云ふことなし、
思ふところ月にあらずと云ふことなし。
Miru tokoro hana ni arazu to iu koto nashi,
omou tokoro tsuki ni arazu to iu koto nashi
Classical Japanese Database, Translation #172 http://carlsensei.com/classical/index.php/translation/view/172 (Translation: Reginald Horace Blyth)
Statements
Variant: There is nothing you can see that is not a flower;
There is nothing you can think that is not the moon.

Original

見るところ花にあらずと云ふことなし、思ふところ月にあらずと云ふことなし。

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Bashō Matsuo 46

Japanese poet 1644–1694

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Quotes 1990s, 1995-1999
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“Besotted Being! You think yourself the perfection of existence, while you are in reality the most imperfect and imbecile. You profess to see, whereas you can see nothing but a Point!”

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