'To hope for [immortality],' said the Patriarch, 'would be … - Arthur Waley

'To hope for [immortality],' said the Patriarch, 'would be like trying to fish the moon out of the water.'
'There you go again!' said Monkey. 'What pray do you mean by fishing the moon out of the water?'
'When the moon is in the sky,' said the Patriarch, 'it is reflected in the water. It looks just like a real thing, but if you try to catch hold of it, you find it is only an illusion.'

Arthur Waley

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About Arthur Waley

Arthur David Waley (born Arthur David Schloss, 19 August 1889 – 27 June 1966) was an English Orientalist and sinologist who achieved both popular and scholarly acclaim for his translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry.

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Birth Name: Arthur David Schloss

Alternative Names: Sir Arthur Waley • Arthur David Waley • Sir Arthur David Waley

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J. M. Coetzee W. H. Auden Roger Zelazny Czesław Miłosz E. M. Forster

Additional quotes by Arthur Waley

Nothing in the world is difficult,' said the Patriarch, 'it is only our own thoughts that make things seem so.

To the European poet the relation between man and woman is a thing of supreme importance and mystery. To the Chinese, it is something commonplace, obvious—a need of the body, not a satisfaction of the emotions.

Since the classical language has an easy grammar and limited vocabulary, a few months should suffice for the mastering of it.

'To hope for [immortality],' said the Patriarch, 'would be like trying to fish the moon out of the water.' 'There you go again!' said Monkey. 'What p… - Arthur Waley

About Arthur Waley

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