Chinese Poet Quotes

Li Bai

Du Fu

Emperor Taizong of Tang

Bai Juyi

Qiu Xiaolong

Hanshan

Men ask the way to Cold Mountain, Cold Mountain: there's no through trail.

In the battlefield men grapple each other and die;
The horses of the vanquished utter lamentable cries to heaven,
While ravens and kites peck at human entrails,
Carry them up in their flight, and hang them on the branches of dead trees.

I remember, when I was young,
How easily my mood changed from sad to gay.
… But now that age comes,
A moment of joy is harder and harder to get.

With a bronze mirror, one can see whether he is properly attired; with history as a mirror, one can understand the rise and fall of a nation; with men as a mirror, one can see whether he is right or wrong. Now I've lost my faithful mirror by the death of Weizheng.

Emperor Taizong of Tang

I am about to scream madly in the office.
Especially when they bring more papers to pile high on my desk.

Naive eyes see friends everywhere
Sullen eyes see enemies everywhere
Terrified eyes see traps everywhere
Greedy eyes see gold everywhere
Sorrowful eyes see desolation everywhere
Smiling eyes see brightness everywhere
Two eyes often struggle against each other
One is too naive
The other too sullen
Therefore the eyes behold total confusion
Enemies look like friends
And friends look like enemies.

A monkey's transformed body weds
the human mind. Mind is a monkey —
this, the truth profound.

Get rid of words, and get rid of meaning, and still there is poetry.

If you work hard enough at something, it begins to make itself part of you, even though you do not really like it and know that part isn't real.