Our senses are woefully limited. Our brains are but tiny candles flickering in an infinity of darkness. Our only wisdom is to admit that we cannot understand, and since we cannot understand we must do...
Ginseng hunters refer to the plant as chang-diang shen, the root of lightning, because it is believed that it appears only on the spot where a small mountain spring has been dried up by a lightning bo...
The mind is a miser, he said. Nothing is ever thrown away, and it's amazing what you can find if you dig deep enough.
I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world.
Alas, great is my sorrow. Your name is Ah Chen, and when you were born I was not truly pleased. I am a farmer, and a farmer needs strong sons to help with his work, but before a year had passed you ha...
Of course there is a slight chance that somebody might want to give the Celestial Bookmaker a heart attack.
Nothing on the face of this earth - and I do mean nothing - is half so dangerous as a children's story that happens to be real...
I have decided that the problem with poetic justice is that it never knows when to stop.
Ox, at an early age a Chinese genius gazes at the path that lies ahead and reaches for a wine jar, Master Li said. Is it any wonder that our greatest men have lurched rather than walked across the lan...
Is it any wonder that our greatest men have lurched rather than walked across the landscape as they hiccupped their way into history? Sir, that’s the best autobiography I ever heard! I said enthusiast...
Begin at the beginning as you understood it, proceed through the middle, continue to the end, and then stop," said Master Li, and he sauntered out to get drunk....
I used to love history class. I can still quote whole passages by heart: When the emperor entered the Hall of Balming Virtue, a violent wind came from a dark corner, and out of it slithered a giant se...
Boy, just look at the soul shining through my eyes! It’s like a goddamned flower!
I have never been able to understand why perfectly sensible people waste time being wittily obscure instead of just saying what they want and going on about their business.
Ox, what occupation is most closely linked to insanity?''Emperor,' I said promptly.
The emotional health of a village depended upon having a man whom everyone hated.
The problem with poetic justice is that it never knows when to stop.
Fable has strong shoulders that carry far more truth than fact can.
He actually seemed to want an answer, so I shrugged and said, A superior who inherited the job from an uncle rams a barge pole up his ass.
I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world. May your villages remain ignorant of tax collectors, and may your sons be many and ugly and strong and willing workers, and may you...
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