"Since youth ...."

Since youth, the crowd’s pace did not suit me;

my first instinct was always to love the hills and mountains.

Mistakenly, I fell into the dusty net,

and was trapped for thirty years.

A caged bird misses the old forest,

a fish in a pond misses the old waters.

I’ll till the wasteland on the edge of the southern wilderness,

stay rustic, and return to my garden farm.

There are some ten acres around my house,

eight or nine other thatched rooms.

Elms and willows shade my back eaves,

peach and plum trees line the front.

I hardly see anyone; they’re so far away

I only know faint village smoke.

Dogs bark in deep lanes,

Roosters crow from the tops of mulberry trees.

No dust swirls into my door or house;

the empty rooms promise quiet leisure.

For too long, I was shut in a cage.

I only hope that my wishes won’t be thwarted.

Tao Yuanming

"When you don't ...."

“When you don’t insert your own selfish will, you acquire the greatest happiness in the world and won’t be defeated by things. While you’re alive, follow only that way with everything you have. When you die, just be content with your own return.”

“The common man has not yet cut through the root of confusion of life and death. This always lies concealed and acts as a cover over the spirit.”

Issai Chozanshi

"Try to realize ...."

Try to realize all the blessings you have, and you will find perhaps that they are more than you suppose.

John Lubbock

"If more of us valued ...."

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

J R R Tolkien