Quotes by Robert M. Pirsig

Robert M. Pirsig

… the laws of physics and of logic … the number system … the principle of algebraic substitution. These are ghosts. We just believe in them so thoroughly they seem real.

Believe

Law

Real

…the doctrinal differences between Hinduism and Buddhism and Taoism are not anywhere near as important as doctrinal differences among Christianity and Islam and Judaism. Holy wars are not fought over them because verbalized statements about reality are never presumed to be reality itself.

Buddhism

Reality

War

“When are we going to get going?” Chris says. “What’s your hurry?” I ask. “I just want to get going.” “There’s nothing up ahead that’s any better than it is right here.”

Asks

Want

(What makes his world so hard to see clearly is not its strangeness but its usualness).Familiarity can blind you too.

Blind

Strangeness

World

99 per cent of your life recognises things without definition, a baby recognises its mother’s face without having it defined. It’s just an arbitrary rule this rule of definition that Socrates set down.

Arbitrary

Baby

Mother

A culture that supports the dominance of social values over biological values is an absolutely superior culture to one that does not, and a culture that supports the dominance of intellectual values over social values is absolutely superior to one that does not.

Intellectual

Social Values

Support

A culture-bearing book, like a mule, bears the culture on its back. No one should sit down to write one deliberately. Culture-bearing books appear almost accidentally, like a sudden surge in the stock market. There are books of high quality that are a part of the culture, but that is not the same. They are a part of it. They aren’t carrying it anywhere. They may talk about insanity sympathetically, for example, because that’s the standard cultural attitude. But they don’t carry any suggestion that insanity might be something other than sickness or degeneracy.

Attitude

Book

Writing

A motorcycle functions entirely in accordance with the laws of reason, and a study of the art of motorcycle maintenance is really a miniature study of the art of rationality itself.

Art

Law

Motorcycle

A person filled with gumption doesn’t sit about stewing about things. He’s at the front of the train of his own awareness, watching to see what’s up the track and meeting it when it comes. That’s gumption. If you’re going to repair a motorcycle, an adequate supply of gumption is the first and most important tool. If you haven’t got that you might as well gather up all the other tools and put them away, because they won’t do you any good.

Important

Motorcycle

Track

A person isn’t considered insane if there are a number of people who believe the same way. Insanity isn’t supposed to be a communicable disease. If one other person starts to believe him, or maybe two or three, then it’s a religion.

Atheist

God

People

Follow The Behaviour University in order to get the greatest quotes from the greatest people of all time so that you can tap into your own greatness.

Ability

Absence

Acceptance

Adjectives

Air

America

Analytics

Answers

Arbitrary

Art

Art Is

Artist

Asks

Atheism

Atheist

Attitude

Avoided

Awareness

Awe

Baby

Beach

Believe

Bigs

Bikers

Blessed

Blind

Block

Blow

Body

Book

Boredom

Bridges

Broken

Buddhism

Buddhist

Bully

Calm

Calm Down

Car

Care

Caring

Causes

Cells

Challenges

Change

Chaos

Children

Church

Civilization

Climbing

The Future Blueprint

Tool

The Home Therapist: Anti Anxiety

Tool

The Autobiography

Tool

The Behaviour Diary

Tool

The Dating Diary

Tool

The Relationship Therapist

Tool

Quotes by Robert M. Pirsig

Robert M. Pirsig

… the laws of physics and of logic … the number system … the principle of algebraic substitution. These are ghosts. We just believe in them so thoroughly they seem real.

…the doctrinal differences between Hinduism and Buddhism and Taoism are not anywhere near as important as doctrinal differences among Christianity and Islam and Judaism. Holy wars are not fought over them because verbalized statements about reality are never presumed to be reality itself.

“When are we going to get going?” Chris says. “What’s your hurry?” I ask. “I just want to get going.” “There’s nothing up ahead that’s any better than it is right here.”

(What makes his world so hard to see clearly is not its strangeness but its usualness).Familiarity can blind you too.

99 per cent of your life recognises things without definition, a baby recognises its mother’s face without having it defined. It’s just an arbitrary rule this rule of definition that Socrates set down.

A culture that supports the dominance of social values over biological values is an absolutely superior culture to one that does not, and a culture that supports the dominance of intellectual values over social values is absolutely superior to one that does not.

A motorcycle functions entirely in accordance with the laws of reason, and a study of the art of motorcycle maintenance is really a miniature study of the art of rationality itself.

A person isn’t considered insane if there are a number of people who believe the same way. Insanity isn’t supposed to be a communicable disease. If one other person starts to believe him, or maybe two or three, then it’s a religion.

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Topics by Robert M. Pirsig

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The Future Blueprint

The Home Therapist: Anti Anxiety

The Autobiography

The Behaviour Diary

The Dating Diary

The Relationship Therapist

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