Eugen Herrigel

You must act as if the goal were infinitely far off.

— Eugen Herrigel

The man, the art, the work--it is all one.

— Eugen Herrigel

You must learn to wait properly.

— Eugen Herrigel

In the case of archery, the hitter and the hit are no longer two opposing objects, but are one reality.

— Eugen Herrigel

The shot will go smoothly only when it takes the archer himself by surprise.

— Eugen Herrigel

Zen Buddhism does not preach. Sermons remain words. It waits until people feel stifled and insecure, driven by a secret longing.

— Eugen Herrigel

The hand that guides the brush has already caught and executed what floated before the mind at the same moment the mind…

— Eugen Herrigel

By letting go of yourself, leaving yourself and everything yours behind so decisively that nothing more is left of you but a…

— Eugen Herrigel

He grows daily more capable of following any inspiration without technical effort, and also of letting inspiration come to him through meticulous…

— Eugen Herrigel

Assuming that his talent can survive the increasing strain, there is one scarcely avoidable danger that lies ahead of the pupil on…

— Eugen Herrigel

The right shot at the right moment does not come because you do not let go of yourself. You do not wait…

— Eugen Herrigel

The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you…

— Eugen Herrigel

This, then, is what counts: a lightning reaction which has no further need of conscious observation. In this respect at least the…

— Eugen Herrigel

The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you…

— Eugen Herrigel

“You have described only too well," replied the Master, "where the difficulty lies...The right shot at the right moment does not come…

— Eugen Herrigel

Often nothing keeps the pupil on the move but his faith in his teacher, whose mastery is now beginning to dawn on…

— Eugen Herrigel

Don't think of what you have to do, don't consider how to carry it out! The shot will only go smoothly when…

— Eugen Herrigel

“The right art," cried the Master, "is purposeless, aimless! The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for…

— Eugen Herrigel

“The hand that stretches the bow must open like a child's hand opens. What sometimes hinders the precision of the shot is…

— Eugen Herrigel

The spider dances her web without knowing there are flies that will get caught in it. The fly, dancing nonchalantly on a…

— Eugen Herrigel

You can learn from an ordinary bamboo leaf what ought to happen. It bends lower and lower under the weight of snow.…

— Eugen Herrigel

“And what impels him to repeat this process at every single lesson, and, with the same remorseless insistence, to make his pupils…

— Eugen Herrigel

I must only warn you of one thing. You have become a different person in the course of these years. For this…

— Eugen Herrigel

Far from wishing to awaken the artist in the pupil prematurely, the teacher considers it his first task to make him a…

— Eugen Herrigel

The more a human being feels himself a self, tries to intensify this self and reach a never-attainable perfection, the more drastically…

— Eugen Herrigel

“Don't think of what you have to do, don't consider how to carry it out!" he exclaimed. "The shot will only go…

— Eugen Herrigel

This means that the mind or spirit is present anywhere, because it is nowhere attached to any particular place. And it can…

— Eugen Herrigel