7 Lin Yutang Quotes on Culture

Lin Yutang quotes on culture

2. '...in the West, the insane are so many that they are put in an asylum, in China the insane are so unusual that we worship them . . . .' (p. 3)

8. 'The three great American vices seem to be efficiency, punctuality, and the desire for achievement and success. They are the things that make the Americans so unhappy and so nervous.' (p. 162)

10. 'If the early Chinese people had any chivalry, it was manifested not toward women and children, but toward old people. That feeling of chivalry found clear expression in Mencius in some such saying as, 'The people with gray hair should not be seen carrying burdens on the street,' which was expressed as the final goal of good government.' (p. 193)

18. What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?

21. When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set.

22. When you take a bath, you are civilized, when you don't take a bath, you are cultured.

23. I have a hankering to go back to the Orient and discard my necktie. Neckties strangle clear thinking.