“Then he read the words of the scroll slowly, first in Japanese and then carefully translated into English:'There is really nothing you must be. And there is nothing you must do.There is really nothing you must have.And there is nothing you must know.There is really nothing you must become.However. It helps to understand that fire burns, and when it rains, the earth gets wet. . . .' 'Whatever, there are consequences. Nobody is exempt,' said the master.”

“When you have nothing but love, you have everything. This means you must live as if you have nothing to hide, nothing to prove and nothing to lose.”

“You weren't there, you didn't see,' he said. 'There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing.”

“There is no goal, nowhere to get to, nothing to achieve.All that you seek, no matter how great or small, is merely entertainment, diversion, or exercise along the way. It is of no consequence. Yet you must do it. That is the secret. You must do your work, you must help others, you must grow your plants, and you must write.You must do all those things, and yet those things will lead you no place that you are not right now.”

“You must not make the mistake of thinking that because nothing lasts, nothing matters.”

“There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.”