Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

A while back I finished reading this book, and I have meant to share some quotes I found particularly meaningful from the book. The book was interesting to me, some parts more than others. I liked Robert Pirsig's insight into college-level education. Some of the transitions between real life and past life were somewhat abrupt, but overall I liked it.

Pg 114: He felt that institutions such as schools, churches, governments, and political organizations of every sort all tended to direct thought for ends other than truth, for the perpetuation of their own functions, and for the control of individuals in the service of these institutions.

Pg 146: You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it's going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt.

Pg 187: Schools teach you to imitate. If you don't imitate what the teacher wants you get a bad grade. Here, in college, it was more sophisticated. Of course, you were supposed to imitate the teacher in such a way as to convince the teacher you were not imitating, but taking the essence of the instruction and going ahead with it on you own...

Pg 199: To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here's where things grow. But of course without the top you can't have any sides. It's the top that defines the sides.

Pg 206: What he's looking for, what he wants, is all around him, but he doesn't want that because it is all around him. Every step's an effort, both physically and spiritually, because he imagines his goal to be external and distant.

Of course some of these quotes are controversial, but most of them make you think, whether you agree with them or not. If you find these intriguing you may want to check out the book. Keep in mind these quotes were little nuggets taken from among 418 pages of text. I did learn some about philosophy, and a bit about motorcycles, though since I have been riding on the back of my husband's for years, I had pretty good insight into that part.