To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top. - Robert M. Pirsig

The only Zen you find on tops of mountains is the Zen you bring there.

How are you going to teach virtue if you teach the relativity of all ethical ideas? Virtue, if it implies anything at all, implies an ethical absolute. A person whose idea of what is proper varies from day to day can be admired for his broadmindedness, but not for his virtue.

There is a Swedish word, kulturbärer, which can be translated as "culture-bearer" but still doesn't mean much. It's not a concept that has much American use, although it should have.