37 Quotes by Kakuzō Okakura

Our god is great, and money is his Prophet! We devastate nature in order to make sacrifice to him. We boast that we have conquered Matter and forget that it is Matter that has enslaved us.

Our mind is the canvas on which the artists lay their colour; their pigments are our emotions; their chiaroscuro the light of joy, the shadow of sadness. The masterpiece is of ourselves, as we are of the masterpiece.

Approach a great painting as thou wouldst approach a great prince.

Seul celui qui a achevé en esprit l'inachevé peut découvrir la véritable beauté. La vigueur de la vie et de l'art réside dans leurs possibilités de croissance.

En percevant l'usage subtil de l'inutile, il est entré dans le royaume de l'art.

A sa naissance, il entre dans le royaume des rêves pour ne s'éveiller à la réalité qu'au moment de sa mort.

We are ever brutal to those who love and serve us in silence, but the time may come when, for our cruelty, we shall be deserted by these best friends of ours.

But when we consider how small after all the cup of human enjoyment is, how soon overflowed with tears, how easily drained to the dregs in our quenchless thirst for infinity, we shall not blame ourselves for making so much of the tea-cup.

...But it is also told that Niuka forgot to fill two tiny crevices in the blue firmament. Thus began the dualism of love--two souls rolling through space and never at rest until they join together to complete the universe. Everyone has to build anew his sky of hope and peace.