The body was so little a part of him that its final stillness seemed nothing of importance. He was half out of it anyway and death was only a slipping out of it altogether and being at last what he always was, a spirit. We buried the pearly shell upon the mountain top.

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.

Now, five years is nothing in a man's life except when he is very young and very old... - Wang Lung

Love can never be a sin. It can be only a blessing. Even if you're not loved in return -- though I can't imagine that -- to love is a proof of life -- indeed, it's the only proof, for once you can't love another human being, you're not alive.

If I have learned anything in my long life it is to be grateful for every occasion when I followed my sympathies and avoided my antipathies.

Many people lose the small joys in the hope for the big happiness.

Believing in gods always causes confusion.