James Clavell Quotes & Sayings

Only merchants have money to waste, and what are they but parasites who create nothing, grow nothing, make nothing but feed off another's labor? — James Clavell

Yabu-san's a violent man with no scruples whatsoever. He honors nothing but his own interests. Duty, loyalty, tradition, mean nothing to him. His mind has flashes of great cunning, even brilliance. He's equally dangerous as ally or enemy.' 'All commendable virtues. What's to be said against him?' 'A — James Clavell

It is simple to catch a man, all you need to know is the right bait. — James Clavell

Isn't it only through laughter that we become one with the gods and thus can endure life and can overcome all the horror and waste and suffering here on earth? ... Isn't it only through laughter we can stay human? — James Clavell

I send you my laughter. May Buddha bless thee and thine. — James Clavell

Wars are fought by teenagers, you realize that. They really ought to be fought by the politicians and old people who start these wars. (Interview with Don Swaim of CBS Radio-1986) — James Clavell

I'm saying that some men are saints. Some are happy being meek and humble and unambitious. Some men are born content to be second-best. — James Clavell

So much of "normal, civilized" life is bull that you can't imagine ... What frightens you, doesn't frighten me, what frightens me, you'd laugh at. — James Clavell

Isn't man but a blossom taken by the wind, and only the mountains and the sea and the stars and this Land of the Gods real and everlasting? — James Clavell

Love is a Christian word, Anjin-san. Love is a Christian thought, a Christian ideal. We have no word for 'love' as I understand you to mean it. Duty, loyalty, honor, respect, desire, those words and thoughts are what we have, all that we need. — James Clavell

God gives us intelligence to uncover the wonders of nature. Without the gift, nothing is possible. — James Clavell

Three big islands, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Honshu? And thousands of little ones. There's another island far to the north - some say it's the mainland - called Hokkaido, but only hairy natives — James Clavell

My captain will help you be very quick. Within three sticks. The unit of time was the time it took for a standard stick of incense to smolder away, approximately one hour for one stick. — James Clavell

You don't know for certain about God until you're dead. — James Clavell

quarreling avails nothing. — James Clavell

Kogo, the goshawk, fluttered on his wrist and settled herself, watching him. Toranaga smiled at her. I did not choose to be what I am. It is my karma. — James Clavell

The search for the truth is the most important work in the whole world, and the most dangerous. — James Clavell

You never know ... that's what makes life interesting. — James Clavell

Like dew I was born
Like dew I vanish
..and all that I have ever done
Is but a dream
Within a dream — James Clavell

There are seven emotions, neh? Joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate. If a man doesn't give way to these, he's patient. I'm — James Clavell

Tomorrow does not exist. There is only now. — James Clavell

Guard yourself and your conscience no one else will and know that a bad decision at the right time can destroy you far more surely than any bullet! — James Clavell

The more I know, the more sure I am I know so little. The eternal paradox. — James Clavell

The sky
Scorched by the sun,
Weeps
Fecund tears. — James Clavell

And Adam ruled, for he was the King. Until the day his will to be King deserted him. Then he died, food for a stronger. And the strongest was always the King, not by strength alone, but King by cunning and luck and strength together. Among the rats. — James Clavell

Blackthorne, beside the gates, was still turmoiled by his boundless joy at her reprieve and he remembered how his own will had been stretched that night of his near-seppuku, when he had had to get up as a man and walk home as a man unsupported, and became samurai. And he watched her, despising the need for this courage, yet understanding it, even honoring it. — James Clavell

You can find friends in manure, sometimes, my son. — James Clavell

It's always important to take time to study men
important men. Friends and enemies. — James Clavell

The point is we both know life and understand death - and both believe treatment in hell and everywhere else depends on money. — James Clavell

What are clouds, but an excuse for the sky? What is life, but an escape from death? — James Clavell

If you're a sailor, best not know how to swim. Swimming only prolongs the inevitable - if the sea wants you and your time has come. — James Clavell

What can I do to help thee?" he asked.
"Believe there is a tomorrow. — James Clavell

That's the first rule of survival in enemy waters: volunteer nothing. — James Clavell

You're a cruel, cold-gutted, heartless bastard but you've got majesty, no doubt about that. — James Clavell

It's a saying they have, that a man has a false heart in his mouth for the world to see, another in his breast to show to his special friends and his family, and the real one, the true one, the secret one, which is never known to anyone except to himself alone, hidden only God knows where. — James Clavell

Be thou of Zen. Remember, in tranquillity, that the Absolute, the Tao, is within thee, that no priest or cult or dogma or book or saying or teaching or teacher stands between Thou and It. Know that Good and Evil are irrelevant, I and Thou irrelevant, Inside and Outside irrelevant as are Life and Death. Enter into the Sphere where there is no fear of death nor hope of afterlife, where thou art free of the impediments of life or the needs of salvation. Thou art thyself the Tao. Be thou, now, a rock against which the waves of life rush in vain. — James Clavell

Why is it there is always such violence between mother-in law and daughter-in-law? Doesn't daughter-in-law, in time, become mother-in-law? Why does she then always treat her own daughter-in-law to a lashing tongue and make her life a misery, and why does that girl do the same in her turn? Doesn't anyone learn? — James Clavell

He took a deep breath of air. Once again he caught a strangeness on the wind, neither pleasant nor unpleasant, neither odor nor perfume - just strange, and curiously exciting. "Superintendent, what's that smell? Casey noticed it too, the moment Sven opened the door." Armstrong hesitated. Then he smiled. "That's Hong Kong's very own, Mr. Bartlett. It's money. — James Clavell

If the Truth is already clear, what is the use of meditation?' " " 'And if the Truth is hidden?' " Toranaga said. " 'It's already clear,' " Hiro-matsu answered correctly. The quotation was from the ancient Tantric Buddhist teacher, Saraha. — James Clavell

Let's piss on the bargain. — James Clavell

It is sometimes wise to be abstract. — James Clavell

Isn't man but a blossom taken by wind, and only the mountains and the sea and the stars and this land of the gods everlasting? — James Clavell

Gods are like people. They believe anything if you tell them right way. — James Clavell

Sometimes full agreements, delicate agreements, should not be reduced into writing. — James Clavell

Anger is one of the most intimate of emotions and to expose it to strangers is one of the most stupid and sickening things to do. Never get angry with strangers because they are strangers. — James Clavell

You must learn to control the filth of your tongue, my son. It will send you to hell. — James Clavell

It is not wise to notice another man's woman. — James Clavell

How can a man be so brave and so stupid, so gentle and so cruel, so warming and so detestable
all at the same time? — James Clavell

Women don't have wisdom or knowledge in political things. — James Clavell

The subject of the chapter is not what we might expect from the title. — James Clavell

Men don't apologize to ladies. Whatever they do is correct. — James Clavell

His mind docketing the important things for future transcription. — James Clavell

The word of God surpasses earthly orders. — James Clavell

A man's fate is a man's fate and life is but an illusion. — James Clavell

So easy now that Elder Sister has explained to her what all young girls in houses are taught - that with care and meticulous acting and tears of pretended pain and fear, and the final modest telltale stains cautiously placed, a girl can, if necessary, be virgin ten times for ten different men. — James Clavell

What is pain to a man? A privilege! — James Clavell

Sometimes it's wiser to give a quarry extra line
that's how to catch a fish, neh? — James Clavell

Karma is the beginning of knowledge. Next is patience. Patience is very important. The strong are the patient ones, Anjin-san. patience means holding back your inclination to the seven emotions: hate, adoration, joy, anxiety, anger, grief, fear. If you don't give way to the seven, you're patient, then you'll soon understand all manner of things and be in harmony with Eternity. — James Clavell

Anger is something you should only vent in front of intimates, and friends and relations. Never be angry in front of strangers because you lose face. — James Clavell

Patience is important for a man, vital for a leader — James Clavell

Did. But he was glad her head was deep in his shoulder greatcoat. Again he craned around and caught sight of it, slightly aft and lying flat in the water, now seeming to — James Clavell

When a man's pride is injured, death is a small price to repay the insult. — James Clavell

Christianity is a religion. Not a political ideology. — James Clavell

Money means nothing to a real man. — James Clavell

Only by living at the edge of death can you understand the indescribable joy of life. — James Clavell

It's good for a man to get drunk once in a while. It releases all the evil spirits. — James Clavell

First the priests arrive. Then the conquistadores. — James Clavell

Many times Blackthorne had looked over his shoulder expecting her there, but she was never there and never would be and this did not disturb him. She was with him forever, and he knew he would love her in the good times and in the tragic times, even in the winter of his life. She was always on the edge of his dreams. — James Clavell

Changi for me - of course it's easy to be wise after the event, and to discuss it cleverly after the event - was about as near as you can get to being dead and still be alive. — James Clavell

I write short stories. They may appear big in size, but when you consider it, they're four or five novels in one ... In return for picking up one of my books, I'm trying to give them value for their money ... the goal of writing any book is to create the illusion that what you are reading is reality and you're part of it. — James Clavell

Leave the problems of God to God and karma to karma. Today you're here and nothing you do will change that. Today you are alive and here and honored and blessed with good fortune. Look at this suset, it's beautiful, neh? This sunset exists. Tomorrow does not exist. There is only now. Please look. It is so beautiful and it will never happen ever again, never, not this sunset, never in all infinity. Lose yourself in it, make yourself one with nature and do not worry about karma, yours, mine, or that of the village. — James Clavell

A wise man prepares for treachery. — James Clavell

It's only Christian to be chivalrous to your enemies. — James Clavell

To think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral down into ever increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort. This is one of the things that discipline and training is all about. — James Clavell

All stories have a beginning, a middle and an ending, and if they're any good, the ending is a beginning. — James Clavell

Godrot opium, he thought. But he knew that his life was inexorably tied to opium - and that without it neither The Noble House nor the British Empire could exist. — James Clavell

In war and in peace, a good enemy can be more valuable than a good ally. — James Clavell

Damn what you like, Pieterzoon. But don't damn liquor. It's the stuff of life! — James Clavell

And damned nomads in Mesopotamia have again cut the telegraph - another expeditionary force is being organized to deal with them once and for all! — James Clavell

He remembered the pride-filled glow that had swamped Gyoko's face and he wondered again at the bewildering gullibility of people. How baffling it was that even the most cunning and clever people would frequently see only what they wanted to see, and would rarely look beyond the thinnest of facades. Or they would ignore reality, dismissing it as the facade. And then, when their whole world fell to pieces and they were on their knees slitting their bellies or cutting their throats, or cast out into the freezing world, they would tear their topknots or rend their clothes and bewail their karma, blaming gods or kami or luck or their lords or husbands or vassals
anything or anything
but never themselves. — James Clavell

What you do with strangers is ignore them for. No second chance, no sorry I did it, never accept an apology, but never, ever get angry with strangers. — James Clavell

Without privacy, civilized life could not exist. — James Clavell

Secrets never leave you in peace, however much you wish or pray. — James Clavell

Death and life are the same thing. This is the immutable law of nature. — James Clavell

You must be patient before you criticize. — James Clavell

By universal custom, your enemy is never more polite than when he is planning or has planned your destruction. — James Clavell

Perhaps that is why we love life so much, Anjin-san. You see, we have to. Death is part of our air and sea and earth. You should know, Anjin-san, in this Land of Tears, death is our heritage. — James Clavell

There is no need to fear. We are all in God's hands. — James Clavell

They put me with a blind monk who taught me how to massage and to see again with my fingers. Now my fingers tell me more than my eyes used to, I think. — James Clavell

It's unseemly to criticize without knowledge. — James Clavell

For a woman, old age is never pretty. — James Clavell

Listen, if you want peace you must learn to drink cha from an empty cup. — James Clavell

The sun dances in her and she has an immense joy of life — James Clavell

It is bad manners to say that you will piss on anyone. Very bad. It is bad manners and very stupid to say that you will piss on anyone when you are unarmed. It is very bad manners and even more stupid to say that you will piss on anyone when you are unarmed, powerless, and not prepared to allow your friends and family or whomever to perish first. — James Clavell

Reminding himself to remember forever that the pen's a long arm from the grave. — James Clavell

The law may upset reason but reason may never upset the law, or our whole society will shred like an old tatami. The law may be used to confound reason, reason must certainly not be used to overthrow the law. — James Clavell

A man has a false heart in his mouth for all the world to see, another in his breast to show all his special friends and his family, and the real one, the true one, the secret one, which is not known to anyone except himself alone. — James Clavell

Patience means restraining yourself. There are seven emotions, Joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate. If a man doesn't give way to these, he's patient. I'm not as strong as I might be but I'm patient. — James Clavell

I'll thank you to remember that not so many years ago men were burned at the stake just for saying the earth went round the sun! — James Clavell

The earth's round, like an orange, but this map is like its skin, cut off in ovals, north to south, laid flat and stretched a bit at the top and bottom. A Dutchman called Mercator invented the way to do this accurately twenty years ago. It's the first accurate world map. — James Clavell