Customer Reviews

Zen Soup (Compass)

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Laurence G. Boldt has put together a first class selection of quotes from a wide range of famous men and women, each of them known for some kind of exceptional human achievement. As Boldt says, "the diversity of the sources highlights the timeless and universal nature of these principles", so there are many Westerners quoted aswell as more traditional Zen Eastern sources.

The book is divided into 25 different sections, each of them covering a quality associated with the Zen tradition e.g. Be Here Now, Beginner's Mind, Responsibility, Compassion, Joy, Discipline, The Game Of Life, Selfless Service, Letting Go, Everyday Zen. There is a brief introduction to each quality, then a selection of associated quotes.

Many readers of self-development books and spiritual ideas will be familiar with some of these sayings, but as befits the Zen emphasis, the quality and depth of these quotes really makes an impact. Some of the people quoted several times are Krishnamurti, Confucius, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Lao-Tzu, Goethe, Carl Jung, Albert Camus and texts from every major religion.

This book is filled with very inspirational and moving quotes. It is one of my favorite books and I find myself reading over it every week or so because I just really love it! I definitely think it is worth the purchase!

This book is all quotations from Seneca & Sun-Tzu to William Blake & Noel Coward and many more. This is one of my favorite books and I recommend it to anyone.

This is a collection of quotes. Quotes that are divided up and categorized under "aspects associated with the Zen tradition." Categories like:
Be here now,Be yourself,Work,Creativity,compassion,joy,perseverance mindfullness, ....etc, etc, etc.

I love quotes as much as the next quote lovin' gal. The sub title "Tasty Morsels of Wisdom from Great Minds East & West" actually means that there are quotes from everybody, everywhere. Great minds, yes. There are a lot of really good quotes here. But, it is a book of quotes. If that's what your looking for, then it's a great book!

This book certainly has some great quotes to make you think and contemplate differnt aspects of life, however the original content is minimal. There are many other books on the market with more in depth and original information. Wouldnt hurt to have this book, but not a necessity.

Zen and Meditation are one and the same. Wisdom brightens and opens our lives. When I first read the book I was un-aware of the impact the book would have on my soul and vision of my life. I just loved the advice and wisdom gained through gulping and digesting the stuff.

I was expecting something special after reading the review on "Zen Soup" but was sorely disappointed to recieve only another compilation of witty one-liners from apparently every man who ever felt he had something to say. (The usual six women also made the cut; Mother Theresa, Helen Keller, Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, etc.) Henry Ford is quoted almost as often as Buddha. (What does that tell you...) There is a summary at the beginning of each chapter telling how these quotes relate to a Zen concept but the relationships are simplistic and the majority of the quotes are worn thin (ie. "What you see is what you get"....Flip Wilson.)

Quotes are a wonderful, quick way of seeing the world from a new perspective, but labelling this book "Zen Soup" (instead of perhaps, "Yet More Cool Quotes From Smart People") seems like a quick way to make a buck.