Ryōkan Quotes

Cling to truth and it turns into falsehood. Understand falsehood and it turns into truth. Truth and falsehood are two sides of the same coin. Neither accept one nor reject the other.

The plants and flowers
I raised about my hut
I now surrender
To the will
Of the wind

I must go there today -
Tomorrow the plum blossoms
Will scatter.

I don't tell the murky world
to turn pure.
I purify myself
and check my reflection
in the water of the valley brook.

Pourquoi me sentirais-je
Dans le besoin ?
Devant ma porte de broussailles,
La lune est là,
Les fleurs sont là.

What shall I compare
Your precious letter in early spring to?
All the jewels and gold
Lose their color.
雨が下に
満つる玉より
黄金より
春の初めの
君が音づれ

The flower invites the butterfly with no-mind;
The butterfly visits the flower with no-mind.
The flower opens, the butterfly comes;
The butterfly comes, the flower opens.
I don't know others,
Others don't know me.
By not-knowing we follow nature's course

Je ne sais pourquoi
Mon cœur est inquiet ;
Il m'empêche de dormir ;
Demain,
C'est le printemps !

In my hometown, there are two brothers
with contrary characters.
One is clever and eloquent,
the other is foolish and silent.
The foolish one
seems to have all the time in the world.
The clever one
is always busy depleting his life.

It's a pity, a gentleman in refined retirement composing poetry: He models his work on the classic verse of China. And his poems are elegant, full of fine phrases. But if you don't write of things deep in your own heart, What's the use of churning out so many words?

See and realize that this world is not permanent. Neither late nor early flowers will remain.

When all thoughts
Are exhausted
I slip into the woods
And gather
A pile of shepherd's purse.

Like the little stream
Making its way
Through the mossy crevices
I, too, quietly
Turn clear and transparent.

Good friends and excellent teachers - Stick close to them! Wealth and power are fleeting dreams but wise words perfume the world for ages.

How could we discuss
this and that
without knowing
the whole world is
reflected in a single pearl?

Who says my poems are poems? My poems are not poems. When you know that my poems are not poems, Then we can speak of poetry.