Between Effort and Grace
Most of us spend our lives climbing the ladder of success, only to discover that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.
Alan Watts
British philosopher and popularizer of Eastern thought.
All moments: Alan Watts
- The Secret of Human Existence — Alan Watts
You didn't come into this world. You came out of it. As leaves from a tree. You are the universe experiencing itself.
- Life as Theater — Alan Watts
Life is not a journey to a destination. It is a journey and the journey itself is home. Life is a musical thing.
- God Playing Hide and Seek — Alan Watts
We are playing hide and seek with ourselves. It's an extraordinary game because God, if God is everything, gets to pretend that he is not everything. This is the only thing that can happen to God - getting to be…
- The Path to Awakening — Alan Watts
To understand music, you must listen to it. But so many people try to understand it by reading about it. That's why there's so little real understanding of either music or life.
- The Nature of Consciousness — Alan Watts
Consciousness is a singular of which the plural is unknown. There is only one of it and, in the end, we come to the realization that you are it.
- Love and Fear — Alan Watts
Love is a way of being in the world. It's not something you do, it's something you are.
- If Money Were No Object — Alan Watts
Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way. Ask yourself: what do I desire?
Related moments
- Documenting History — Questlove
As a documentarian, I feel a responsibility to preserve the history of Black music and culture
- The Art of Service — John Legend
As an artist, I see my role as serving humanity and raising my voice for justice
- Alien Artist — David Bowie
I never tried to fit in. I prefer to be myself, even if it's alien.
- Compromise and Conscience — Bob Dylan
I'll never sell my soul for money or fame. It's my only true asset.
- Humble Beginnings — Paul McCartney
Nobody believed in us at first. We just believed in ourselves and the music.
- Always Be a Good Human — Louis Armstrong
I've always tried to be a good human being. That's what matters.