“The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“The real cycle you’re working on is a cycle called ‘yourself’.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn’t any other test.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“The truth knocks on the door and you say, ‘Go away, I’m looking for the truth,’ and so it goes away. Puzzling.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“The study of the art of motorcycle maintenance is really a study of the art of rationality itself.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“The actual motorcycle is just a projection out into physical reality of what the motorcycle is.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“The environment you’re in, whether it’s the country or the city, can influence how you write.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called a Religion.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“The knife that kills the yak is the knife that you brought.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“You look at where you’re going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you’ve been and a pattern seems to emerge.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“Sometimes it’s a little better to travel than to arrive.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“Quality is a direct experience independent of and prior to intellectual abstractions.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“I’m not into this faith business. I’m just a kid with a chemistry set.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It’s easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“You take a wonderful adventure and try to avoid making any mistakes.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“I can see that man, but what is he doing walking behind that horse with that bucket in his hand?” – Robert M. Pirsig
“Gumption is the psychic gasoline that keeps the whole thing going.” – Robert M. Pirsig
“You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It’s easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally.” – Robert M. Pirsig