A Commonplace Book

Collected by Ratnaprabha

Starting in 1984, I noted down anything in my reading that I wanted to remember.  If I found a passage striking, then into the notebooks it went; wise, funny, provoking, or just asking for further thought.  I don’t agree with it all, and there are passages under the same heading which strongly contradict each other.  After a while, I found Buddhist literature too rich to pick over in the same way, so there are only a few quotations from the Dharma.  However, a lot of the pieces illuminate Buddhist themes, such as impermanence and karma.

The headings are mine.  Words in square brackets [thus] are not in the original.  A double slash // in a poem signifies the end of a stanza.  The date at the end of each item records when I noted it down.  These quotations are only intended for personal use, not for publication or for use in published material without permission from whoever has the copyright.

You can browse the quotes alphabetically by hovering on ‘QUOTES’ above, or by use the lens icon above to search for a word or phrase; however you will have to search again in the letter-page this takes you to, using a find function such as CTRL-F.

Ratnaprabha, December 2014