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A philosopher is a sort of intellectual yokel who gawks at things that sensible people take for granted.

Alan Watts

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Alan Watts
Age: 58 †
Born: 1915
Born: January 6
Died: 1973
Died: November 16
Anglican Priest
Author
Dramaturge
Musician
Philosopher
Theologian
Videographer
Writer
Kent
England
Intellectual
Sort
Take
Things
People
Sensible
Philosopher
Granted

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And it came to pass that in the hands of the ignorant, the words of the Bible were used to beat plowshares into swords
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For a decision-the freest of my actions just happens like hiccups inside me or like a bird singing outside me.
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The wake doesn't drive the ship
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Lack of love for the vegetative, subtle, cthonic, pagan, and sexy aspect of the world means death.
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The style of God venerated in church, mosque, and synagogue seems completely different from the style of the natural universe.
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There is an ineffable mystery that underlies ourselves and the world. It is the darkness from which the light shines. When you recognize the integrity of the universe and that death is as certain as birth, then you can relax and accept that this is the way it is. There is nothing else to do.
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To remain caught up in ideas and words about Zen is, as the old masters say, to stink of Zen.
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I want ... to consort with people whose emotions are not ... cold and standoffish.
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The menu is not the meal.
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When one speaks of awakening, it means de-hypnotizatio n coming to your senses. But of course to do that, you have to go out of your mind.
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However much I may be impressed by the difference between a star and the dark space around it, I must not forget that I can see the two only in relation to each other, and that this relation is inseparable.
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By replacing fear of the unknown with curiosity we open ourselves up to an infinite stream of possibility. We can let fear rule our lives or we can become childlike with curiosity, pushing our boundaries, leaping out of our comfort zones, and accepting what life puts before us.
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People sometimes fail to live because they are always preparing to live.
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Make a spurious division of one process into two, forget that you have done it, and then puzzle for centuries as to how the two get together.
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I have suggested that behind almost all myth lies the mono-plot of the game of hide-and-seek.
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The difference between a baby and adult is that a baby believes in everything while the adult doubts everything. Babies also only tell the truth until they learn what a lie is.
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Real travel requires a maximum of unscheduled wandering, for there is no other way of discovering surprises and marvels, which, as I see it, is the only good reason for not staying at home.
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The future is a concept, it doesn't exist. There is no such thing as tomorrow. There never will be, because time is always now. That's one of the things we discover when we stop talking to ourselves and stop thinking. We find there is only present, only an eternal now.
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Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.
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Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.
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