---
title: "1 Present Self Quotes By Peter Matthiessen"
description: "1 Present Self quotes by Peter Matthiessen. Plus more from Peter Matthiessen and more Present Self sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/625/peter-matthiessen-5795_identity_in-zazen-one-is-one-s-present-self-what_2850597.png"
---

> [In zazen, one is one's present self, what one was, and what one will be, all at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/in-zazen-one-is-one-s-present-self-what-one-was-and-what-one-will-be/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/625/peter-matthiessen-5795_identity_in-zazen-one-is-one-s-present-self-what_2850597.png)

## More by Peter Matthiessen

> [Alec Wilkinson is a spare, clear, and lucid writer who works in stylistic simplicity with material that is not simple at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/alec-wilkinson-is-a-spare-clear-and-lucid-writer-who-works-in/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [Figures dark beneath their loads pass down the far bank of the river, rendered immortal by the streak of sunset upon their shoulders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/figures-dark-beneath-their-loads-pass-down-the-far-bank-of-the-river/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [I think in any writing you're paying attention to detail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-think-in-any-writing-you-re-paying-attention-to-detail/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [The great stillness in these landscapes that once made me restless seeps into me day by day, and with it the unreasonable feeling that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/the-great-stillness-in-these-landscapes-that-once-made-me-restless/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [“...experience was static in the valley; it was older than time itself, for time was a thing of but two generations, dated by moons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/experience-was-static-in-the-valley-it-was-older-than-time-itself-for/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [“The central feature of the practice of meditation and hard work known as Zen is that, as Matthiessen says, it “has no patience with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/the-central-feature-of-the-practice-of-meditation-and-hard-work-known/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [Be light, light, light - full of light!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/be-light-light-light-full-of-light/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [For some time I watch the coming of the night? Above is the glistening galaxy of childhood, now hidden in the Western world by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/for-some-time-i-watch-the-coming-of-the-night-above-is-the-glistening/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [“Nonfiction at its best is like fashioning a cabinet. It can be elegant and very beautiful but it can never be sculpture. Captive to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/nonfiction-at-its-best-is-like-fashioning-a-cabinet-it-can-be-elegant/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [Soon the child’s clear eye is clouded over by ideas and opinions, preconceptions, and abstractions. Simple free being becomes encrusted with the burdensome armor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/soon-the-child-s-clear-eye-is-clouded-over-by-ideas-and-opinions/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [“In the book of Job, the Lord demands, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” “I was there!”-surely that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/in-the-book-of-job-the-lord-demands-where-wast-thou-when-i-laid-the/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [I meditate for the last time on this mountain that is bare, though others all around are white with snow. Like the bare peak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-meditate-for-the-last-time-on-this-mountain-that-is-bare-though/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [I was just very interested in the American frontier and the growth of capitalism - those enormous fortunes that were being made, more often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-was-just-very-interested-in-the-american-frontier-and-the-growth-of/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [“A far cicada rings high and clear over the river’s heavy wash. Morning glory, a lone dandelion, cassia, orchids. So far from the nearest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/a-far-cicada-rings-high-and-clear-over-the-river-s-heavy-wash-morning/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

> [I ... had what Kierkegaard called 'the sickness of infinitude,' wandering from one path to another with no real recognition that I was embarked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-had-what-kierkegaard-called-the-sickness-of-infinitude-wandering/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-self/peter-matthiessen/#itemlist",
            "name": "1 Present Self Quotes By Peter Matthiessen",
            "numberOfItems": 1,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "In zazen, one is one's present self, what one was, and what one will be, all at once.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Peter Matthiessen"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/in-zazen-one-is-one-s-present-self-what-one-was-and-what-one-will-be/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/625/peter-matthiessen-5795_identity_in-zazen-one-is-one-s-present-self-what_2850597.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/625/peter-matthiessen-5795_identity_in-zazen-one-is-one-s-present-self-what_2850597.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/625/peter-matthiessen-5795_identity_in-zazen-one-is-one-s-present-self-what_2850597.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“In zazen, one is one's present self, what one was, and what one will be, all at once.” — Peter Matthiessen",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-self/peter-matthiessen/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-self/peter-matthiessen/",
            "name": "Present Self Quotes by Peter Matthiessen",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-self/peter-matthiessen/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/625/peter-matthiessen-5795_identity_in-zazen-one-is-one-s-present-self-what_2850597.png"
            },
            "description": "1 Present Self quotes by Peter Matthiessen. Plus more from Peter Matthiessen and more Present Self sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-self/peter-matthiessen/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-self/peter-matthiessen/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Present Self",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-self/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Peter Matthiessen",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-self/peter-matthiessen/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```