The Journey to the West, Volume 1 Quotes

“Treasure a handful of dirt from your home,      But love not ten thousand taels of foreign gold.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“Although the book is exceedingly strange, expending undoubtedly several hundred thousand words [an astonishingly accurate word count], but its general importance may be stated in one sentence: it is only about the retrieving or releasing one’s mind (). For whether we folks act like demons and become Buddha are all dependent on this mind.”
― Wu Cheng'en, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“Don’t go away! Have a taste of old Monkey’s rod!”
― Wu Cheng'en, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“in my opinion those who strive for fame will lose their lives on account of fame; those who live in quest of fortune will perish because of riches; those who have titles sleep embracing a tiger; and those who receive official favors walk with snakes in their sleeves.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“She also bit off a little toe from the child’s left foot to establish a mark of his identity.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“those who have titles sleep embracing a tiger;”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“In Buddhism, the eight emblems would refer to the eight marks of good fortune on the sole of Buddha’s foot—wheel, conch shell, umbrella, canopy, lots flower, jar, pair of fishes, and mystic signs—which, in turn, were symbols of the organs in Buddha’s body.”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“permission. When I began work on the translation long ago, it was an early and ready decision to dedicate the first volume to my wife and our only”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“Canberra and Chicago, but it also allowed us to enjoy several cherished meetings with Professor Liu Ts’un-yan before his passing a few months later. My indebtedness to Professor Liu’s scholarship should be apparent in the introduction”
― Anthony C. Yu, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“Nothing in the world is difficult,” said the Patriarch; “only the mind makes it so.”
― Wu Cheng'en, The Journey to the West, Volume 1

“Triple spring mated to beget all things.
A divine stone quickened by the sun and moon Changed from egg to ape to reach the Great Way.
Loanname and surname matched elixir made. Formless inside he yields no image known;
His outward guise coheres in action shown.
In every age all persons will yield to him:
Hailed a king, a sage, he is free to roam.”
― Wu Cheng'en, The Journey to the West, Volume 1