Best 64 quotes of James Clavell on MyQuotes

And Adam ruled, for he was the King. Until the day his will to be King deserted him. Then he died, food for a stronger. And the strongest was always the King, not by strength alone, but King by cunning and luck and strength together. Among the rats.

Anger is one of the most intimate of emotions and to expose it to strangers is one of the most stupid and sickening things to do. Never get angry with strangers because they are strangers.

Anger is something you should only vent in front of intimates, and friends and relations. Never be angry in front of strangers because you lose face.

.., by universal custom, your enemy is never more polite than when he is planning or has planned your destruction.

Changi became my university instead of my prison. Among the inmates there were experts in all walks of life - the high and the low roads. I studied and absorbed everything I could from physics to counterfeiting, but most of all I learned the art of surviving.

Changi for me - of course it's easy to be wise after the event, and to discuss it cleverly after the event - was about as near as you can get to being dead and still be alive.

God gives us intelligence to uncover the wonders of nature. Without the gift, nothing is possible.

Guard yourself and your conscience no one else will and know that a bad decision at the right time can destroy you far more surely than any bullet!

Horses are far worse than men for treachery.

How baffling it was that even the most cunning and clever people would frequently see only what they wanted to see, and would rarely look beyond the thinnest of facades. Or they would ignore reality, dismissing it as the facade. And then, when their whole world fell to pieces...they would tear their topknots or rend their clothes and bewail their karma, blaming gods or kami or luck or their lords or husbands or vassals-anything or anyone-but never themselves.

How beautiful life is and how sad! How fleeting, with no past and no future, only a limitless now.

How can a man be so brave and so stupid, so gentle and so cruel, so warming and so detestable -- all at the same time?

Isn't it only laughter we can stay human?

Isn’t it only through laughter that we become one with the gods and thus can endure life and can overcome all the horror and waste and suffering here on earth? …Isn’t it only through laughter we can stay human?

It's always important to take time to study men -- important men. Friends and enemies.

It's a saying they have, that a man has a false heart in his mouth for the world to see, another in his breast to show to his special friends and his family, and the real one, the true one, the secret one, which is never known to anyone except to himself alone, hidden only God knows where.

I write short stories. They may appear big in size, but when you consider it, they're four or five novels in one... In return for picking up one of my books, I'm trying to give them value for their money... the goal of writing any book is to create the illusion that what you are reading is reality and you're part of it.

Leave the problems of God to God and karma to karma. Today you're here and nothing you do will change that. Today you are alive and here and honored and blessed with good fortune. Look at this suset, it's beautiful, neh? This sunset exists. Tomorrow does not exist. There is only now. Please look. It is so beautiful and it will never happen ever again, never, not this sunset, never in all infinity. Lose yourself in it, make yourself one with nature and do not worry about karma, yours, mine, or that of the village.

Life and death are the same...Leave karma to karma.

Love is a Christian word, Anjin-san. Love is a Christian thought, a Christian ideal. We have no word for 'love' as I understand you to mean it. Duty, loyalty, honor, respect, desire, those words and thoughts are what we have, all that we need.

Of what real value is a title? The power is the only important thing

Only by living at the edge of death can you understand the indescribable joy of life - Shogun.

Patience means restraining yourself. There are seven emotions, Joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate. If a man doesn't give way to these, he's patient. I'm not as strong as I might be but I'm patient.

So much of 'normal, civilized' life is bull that you can't imagine... What frightens you, doesn't frighten me, what frightens me, you'd laugh at.

The more I know, the more sure I am I know so little. The eternal paradox.

The search for the truth is the most important work in the whole world - and the most dangerous.

To think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral down into ever increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort. This is one of the things that discipline and training is all about.

Wars are fought by teenagers, you realize that. They really ought to be fought by the politicians and old people who start these wars.

What are clouds, but an excuse for the sky? What is life, but an escape from death?

What can I do to help thee?" he asked. "Believe there is a tomorrow.

What you do with strangers is ignore them for. No second chance, no sorry I did it, never accept an apology, but never, ever get angry with strangers.

Why is she afraid?" he asked. "She's not Anjin-san. Just a little nervous. Please excuse her. She's never seen a foreigner close to before." "Tell her when the moon's full, barbarians sprout horns and fire comes out of our mouths like dragons.

You've commited murder just as much as Helene did. You killed a fly with a human head. She killed a human with a fly head.

Always remember, child... that to think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral you down into ever increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort. This is one onf the things that discipline - training - is about.

Beyond the castle walls, the city lay in almost total darkness. Above, the moon was pallid and misted. It was a brooding, darkling night. And, it seemed to him, doom walked the heavens.

Fallibility in a leader is very trying. Isn’t it? They spill so much of other people’s blood.

Gods are like people. They believe anything if you tell them right way.

I can't use hope against swords.

If you're a sailor, best not know how to swim. Swimming only prolongs the inevitable—if the sea wants you and your time has come.

It is bad manners to say that you will piss on anyone. Very bad. It is bad manners and very stupid to say that you will piss on anyone when you are unarmed. It is very bad manners and even more stupid to say that you will piss on anyone when you are unarmed, powerless, and not prepared to allow your friends and family or whomever to perish first.

It’s only Christian to be chivalrous to your enemies.

Let's compete freely. Goddam tariffs! Free trade and free seas—that's what's right!

Listen, if you want peace you must learn to drink cha from an empty cup.

Mariko,san, it was your karma to die gloriously and live forever. Anjin-san, my friend, it is your karma never to leave this land. It is mine to be Shogun.

Oare ce-s nourii Daca nu o justificare a cerului? Oare ce-i viata Daca nu o amanare a mortii?

Oh, yes. Every year in this Land of the Gods we have earth tremors. And fires and flood and Great Waves, and the monster storms - the tai-funs. Nature is very strong with us.' Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. 'Perhaps that is why we love life so much, Anjin-San. You see, we have to. Death is a part of our air and sea and earth. You should know, Anjin-San, in this Land of Tears, death is our heritage.

Only a real man has the right to stand at the pinnacle.

Patience is important for a man, vital for a leader

Perhaps that is why we love life so much, Anjin-san. You see, we have to. Death is part of our air and see and earth.

So easy now that Elder Sister has explained to her what all young girls in houses are taught—that with care and meticulous acting and tears of pretended pain and fear, and the final modest telltale stains cautiously placed, a girl can, if necessary, be virgin ten times for ten different men.