Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes from I Ching (Ancient Chinese Divination Text)

The I Ching, also spelled Yìjīng, known as Classic of Changes or Book of Changes, is an ancient Chinese divination text—a collection of omens and oracles. It is the oldest of the five Confucian classics and one of the earliest books in the history of religious thought.

The I Ching is attributed to the emperor-god Fuxi c.3468 BCE, but modern scholars believe that it was collated around 1000 BCE. As a source of wisdom, a repository of moral and political insight, and a guide for individual self-fulfillment, it has profoundly shaped East Asian thought.

The I Ching develops a classical Chinese philosophy based on the dual cosmic principles of Yin and Yang, which are present in everything, everywhere. Yin is the feminine principle of earth, darkness, moisture, coldness, and passivity. Yang is the masculine principle of Heaven, light, dryness, warmth, and activity. The goal of the I Ching is to demonstrate how Yin and Yang could be related and balanced in various contexts.

The I Ching claims to elucidate the outcome of any given situation by a technique involving the interpretation of 64 hexagrams, each composed of two groups of three lines, which are either broken for Yin or unbroken for Yang. The 64 hexagrams can be combined to give 11,520 situations, deployed in a manner analogical to astrology to make predictions, included in the book explaining the system.

The I Ching first appealed to Western scholars in the 17th century. The German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who corresponded with Jesuit missionaries in China, wrote the first European commentary on the I Ching in 1703. 20th-century mainstream thinkers such as C. G. Jung consulted the Book of Changes. In recent decades, catching the wave of the New Age movement, the I Ching has become the focus of various occult and pseudo-scientific thought systems.

Notable transitions include American Presbyterian missionary Thomas McClatchie’s A Translation of the Confucian Yi-king (1876,) University of Toronto’s Richard John Lynn’s The Classic of Changes (1994,) and American sinologist Edward L. Shaughnessy’s I Ching: The Classic of Changes (1996.)

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by I Ching

On average, an infant laughs nearly two hundred times a day; an adult, only twelve. Maybe they are laughing so much because they are looking at us. To be able to preserve joyousness of heart and yet to be concerned in thought: in this way we can determine good fortune and misfortune on earth, and bring to perfection everything on earth
I Ching

When clouds form in the skies we know that rain will follow but we must not wait for it. Nothing will be achieved by attempting to interfere with the future before the time is ripe. Patience is needed.
I Ching

The quiet and solitary man apprehends the inscrutable. He seeks nothing, holds to the mean, and remains free from entanglements.
I Ching
Topics: Integrity

He who possesses the source of Enthusiasm
Will achieve great things.
Doubt not. You will gather friends around you
As a hair clasp gathers the hair.
I Ching
Topics: Accomplishment, Enthusiasm

The universe is moved by a power which cycles endlessly from day to day. Such greatness endures for all time. As in heaven, so on earth.
I Ching

Change is certain. Peace is followed by disturbances; departure of evil men by their return. Such recurrences should not constitute occasions for sadness but realities for awareness, so that one may be happy in the interim.
I Ching
Topics: Awareness, Change

Great effort is required to arrest decay and restore vigor. One must exercise proper deliberation, plan carefully before making a move, and be alert in guarding against relapse following a renaissance.
I Ching
Topics: Advice

No plain not followed by a slope. No going not followed by a return. He who remains persevering in danger is without blame. Do not complain about this truth; Enjoy the good fortune you still possess.
I Ching

Perseverance alone does not assure success. No amount of stalking will lead to game in a field that has none.
I Ching
Topics: Perseverance

Creativity comes from awakening and directing men’s higher natures, which originate in the primal depths of the universe and are appointed by Heaven.
I Ching
Topics: Creativity

Before a thunderstorm there is a build-up of tension which is only relieved by the explosive force of thunder and lightning. In human affairs there must be a clear distinction between the penalties for small and great crimes. Retribution for wrongdoing must be swiftly and surely applied if greater problems are to be prevented.
I Ching
Topics: Crime

Good fortune and misfortune take effect through perseverance. The way of heaven and earth becomes visible through perseverance. The way of sun and moon become bright through perseverance. All movements under heaven become uniform through perseverance.
I Ching

Waiting is not mere empty hoping. It has the inner certainty of reaching the goal.
I Ching
Topics: Difficulty

Great indeed is the sublimity of the Creative, to which all beings owe their beginning and which permeates all heaven.
I Ching

Everything proceeds as if of its own accord, and this can all too easily tempt us to relax and let things take their course without troubling over details. Such indifference is the root of all evil.
I Ching
Topics: Apathy, Responsibility

Indecision regarding the choice among pleasures temporarily robs a man of inner peace. After due reflection, he attains joy by turning away from the lower pleasures and seeking the higher ones.
I Ching

No good ending can be expected in the absence of the right beginning. It is too late.
I Ching
Topics: Beginnings

A person in danger should not try to escape at one stroke. He should first calmly hold his own, then be satisfied with small gains, which will come by creative adaptations.
I Ching

Heaven and water go their opposite ways:
The image of CONFLICT.
Thus in all his transactions the superior man
Carefully considers the beginning.
I Ching

Instead of solid accomplishments, the man pursues pleasures and self-gratification. He will never achieve anything so long as he is surrounded by dissipating temptations
I Ching
Topics: Accomplishment

One should act in consonance with the way of heaven and earth, which is enduring and eternal. The superior man perseveres long in his course, adapts to the times, but remains firm in his direction and correct in his goals.
I Ching
Topics: Perseverance, Persistence

A person should contemplate the workings of the universe with reverence and introspection. In this way expression is given to the effects of these laws upon his own person. This is the source of a hidden power.
I Ching

The creative works sublime success, furthering through perseverance.
I Ching

Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos. Before a brilliant person begins something great, they must look foolish in the crowd.
I Ching

The responses of human beings vary greatly under dangerous circumstances. The strong man advances boldly to meet them head on. The weak man grows agitated. But the superior man stands up to fate, endures resolutely in his inner certainty of final success, and bides his time until the onset of reassuring odds.
I Ching

When thunder comes it relieves the tension and promotes positive action. Music can do the same by making people enthusiastic and united together. When used to promote good it brings them closer to heaven.
I Ching

The creative knows the great beginnings. The Receptive completes the finished things.
I Ching

The sage, who is living outside the routine of the world, contemplates his own character, not as an isolated ego manifestation, but in relation to the laws of life. He judges freedom from blame to be the highest good.
I Ching

Of all that is good, sublimity is supreme. Succeeding is the coming together of all that is beautiful. Furtherance is the agreement of all that is just. Perseverance is the foundation of all actions.
I Ching

The way of the Creative works through change and transformation, so that each thing receives its true nature and destiny and comes into permanent accord with the great harmony: this is what furthers and what perseveres.
I Ching
Topics: Change

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