One Hand Clapping Quotes & Sayings

If you have a great idea, you should be able to communicate it as well. It's like the sound of one hand clapping. You have a great idea but aren't able to express it - well, how great was the idea? — Douglas Coupland

A wise man once asked me, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" I thought for a minute, then I slapped him across the face. That got him off my back. — Matthew Diamond

We say, "To hear the sound of one hand clapping." Usually the sound of clapping is made with two hands, and we think that clapping with one hand makes no sound at all. But actually, one hand is sound. Even though you do not hear it, there is sound. If you clap with two hands, you can hear the sound. But if sound did not already exist before you clapped, you could not make the sound. Before you make it there is sound. Because there is sound, you can make it, and you can hear it. Sound is everywhere. If you just practice it, there is sound. Do not try to listen to it. If you do not listen to it, the sound is all over. Because you try to hear it, sometimes there is sound, and sometimes there is no sound. Do you understand? Even though you do not do anything, you have the quality of zazen always. But if you try to find it, if you try to see the quality, you have no quality. — Shunryu Suzuki

I love the sound of one hand clapping. — Sienna McQuillen

Feels pain when the love of one hand clapping
but more painful when the person you love turns out never happy living with you. — M.Rivai

What is the sound of one hand clapping? What is the weight of a single grain of sand? The answer is equal to my interest in the message you are about to leave so make it short.
Mitch Hertzog's voice mail message. — Meg Cabot

What are you doing with all those books anyway?" Ron asked.
Just trying to decide which ones to take with us," said Hermione. When we're looking for the Horcruxes."
Oh, of course," said Ron, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I forgot we'll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library. — J.K. Rowling

He said he'd heard the sound of one hand clapping. He said, once his mind took in the wondrous no-sound of holy oneness, the empty echo of eternal bliss, he was never the same. He could hear it still, he said, resounding in the ether and tickling the back of his brain.
Something not normal was going on with his brain. No argument there. — Brenda Marie Smith

Eight people show up. The emcee is warm, friendly, and about as funny as Shoah. I take the stage to the sound of, my hand to God, one person clapping once and only once, and then I start into my act. — Patton Oswalt

There's lotion for your face, for your hands, for your feet, for your body. Why? What would happen if you put hand lotion on your feet? Would your feet get confused and start clapping? Each kind has something special in it - aloe, shea butter, coconut, cocoa butter, vanilla, lemon extract. That's not lotion. That's one ingredient short of a Bundt cake. — Ellen DeGeneres

There's lotion for your face, lotion for your hands, lotion for your feet, lotion for your body. Why? What would happen if you put hand lotion on your feet? Would your feet get confused and start clapping? — Ellen DeGeneres

I am not perfect." It came out in a rush of breath. "See I thought I was. Thank God I ain't. See a perfect thing ain't got a chance. The world kills it, everything perfect. (Listen to him!) Now see a thing that ain't perfect, it grows like a weed. Yeah, like a weed! A thing that ain't perfect gets hand clapping, smiles, takes the wire an easy winner. But the world ain't set up right if you perfect. You lible to run right into a brick wall. Looks like suicide. All the weeds say, looka there, it suicide! — Harry Crews

When you are not near me, I make the sound of one hand clapping. — Dan Fogelberg

A truly extraordinary work: vivid, passionate and utterly compelling. The Sound of One Hand Clapping is raw as a wound. It opens a world that is strange, brutal and poetic at once and ultimately achieves the kind of spirit-healing few novels do — Niall Williams

Hey, ya'll!" I shouted and waved.
At my greeting, the cheer rose so high it nearly took the roof off.
Cool!
I smiled. Tor's arm around my waist squeezed.
"Princess," he clipped into my ear.
Oh shit.
Right.
I stopped waving like a friendly person, close my fingers, cupped my hand slightly and started waving like a royal person.
This had no effect on the crowd who kept shouting, clapping and stamping then someone yelled, "We love you, Princess Cora."
"Isn't that sweet?" I yelled back in the direction from where the words came even though I had no clue who said it.
"Deliver me." I heard Tor mutter from beside me and I looked to the side and up at him.
"What?" I asked.
"Just, gods, please sit down and eat," he said.
"Sure," I said, smiled at the crowd, did the royal wave again then Tor let me go and we sat down. — Kristen Ashley

I wonder what will happen if i put a hand cream on my feet, will they get confused and start clapping? — Ellen DeGeneres

Shane's dad stopped the van," Claire said. "He took Monica as a hostage."
For a second, neither one of them moved, and then Eve whooped and held up her hand for a high five. Claire just stared at her, and Eve compensated by clapping both hands over her head. "Yesssss!" she said, and did a totally geeky victory dance. "Couldn't have happened to a nicer psycho!"
"Hey!" Claire yelled, and Eve froze in midcelebration. It was stupid, but Claire was angry; she knew Eve was right, knew she had no reason at all to think Monica was ever going to be anything but a gigantic pain in the ass, but ... "Shane's dad's going to burn her if they go through with the execution. He has a blowtorch."
The glee dropped out of Eve's expression. "Oh," she said. "Well ... still. Not like she didn't ask for it. Karma's a bitch, and so am I. — Rachel Caine

Wizards don't like philosophy very much. As far as they are concerned, one hand clapping makes a noise like cl. — Terry Pratchett

A second later, Ron had snatched his arm back from around her shoulders; she had dropped The Monster Book of Monsters on his foot. The book had broken free from its restraining belt and snapped viciously at Ron's ankle.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Hermione cried as Harry wrenched the book from Ron's leg and retied it shut.
"What are you doing with all those books anyway?" Ron asked, limping back to his bed.
"Just trying to decide which ones to take with us," said Hermione. "When we're looking for the Horcruxes."
"Oh, of course," said Ron, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I forgot we'll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library."
"Ha ha," said Hermione, looking down at Spellman's Syllabary. — J.K. Rowling

Focusing on effective leadership without focusing on a willingness to follow is like studying clapping by studying only the left hand. — Jonathan Haidt

Rage, there's a rage in me that I have to rely on others, even though I'm very good at relying on others. But at the same time it's uncomfortable at times. Think about that. Isn't that a frightening thing? You rely on your lover, you rely on your friends, and finally you have to rely in what you believe if you want to become whole. But we don't like it. We do resent our lovers, especially the idea of relying on your friends to be whole. That means that on your own, you're (pause) that old fucking zen idea. You're the one hand clapping. (laughs) — Michka Assayas

A successful person expects a clapping hand, an ailing person expects an open hand. — Anthony Liccione

Ow! Shit!" She yelped, dropping the wand on the floor and clapping her hand over her eye, the one into which she'd just smooshed a nice glob of viscous black goo. She fumbled for a wash cloth, wet it, and scrubbed at her watering eye. Years of exposure to her foul-mouthed brothers came pouring out all at once. "Piece of shit god damn son of a bitch! — Kendra Leigh Castle

Oh, well that can't have been me," Harry smiled grimly, clapping a hand on Malone's shoulder as he moved past the big man. "You're still alive. . ." 7:03 — Stephen England

God and Day walked into the station together and their entire department started clapping, yelling, banging on their desks, and whistling loudly. They made their way through the maze of desks as many of the officers patted them on the back and shook God's hand. The women were pulling on them and kissing their cheeks. If — A.E. Via

Nerve, not talent, is the one necessary and sufficient trait for success. (Wouldn't it be ideal if it were talent? But talent with no nerve is like the sound of one hand clapping. — Lynda Obst

What is the sound of one hand? — Hakuin Ekaku

Girl, you have a knack for drawing trouble, Billy says, clapping an affectionate hand on my shoulder. — Cynthia Hand

[ ... ] dGT: Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. My concern here is that the philosophers believe they are actually asking deep questions about nature. And to the scientist it's, what are you doing? Why are you concerning yourself with the meaning of meaning?"
(another) interviewer: I think a healthy balance of both is good.
dGT: Well, I'm still worried even about a healthy balance. Yeah, if you are distracted by your questions so that you cannot move forward, you are not being a productive contributor to our understanding of the natural world. And so the scientist knows when the question "what is the sound of one hand clapping?" is a pointless delay in our progress.
(Neil deGrasse Tyson - EPISODE 489: NERDIST PODCAST, 20m19s) — Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Scientific results that aren't reported might as well not exist. They're like the sound of one hand clapping. For scientists, communication isn't only a responsibility, it's our chief pleasure. — Robert O. Becker

You know the sound of two hands clapping; tell me, what is the sound of one hand? — Hakuin Ekaku