Lin Yutang

Chinese · 1895–1976

Chinese writer, translator, and philosopher who introduced Chinese culture to the West and championed a humorous, humanistic worldview.

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“希望本是无所谓有,无所谓无的。这正如地上的路;其实地上本没有路,走的人多了,也便成了路。”

Chinese

“Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.”

Originally by Lu Xun ("My Old Home", 1921); paraphrased by Lin Yutang

“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.”

English

“If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.”

English