Happiness quotation from Christopher Alexander.

I once saw a simple fish pond in a Japanese village which was perhaps eternal.

A farmer made it for his farm. The pond was a simple rectangle, about 6 feet wide, and 8 feet long; opening off a little irrigation stream. At one end, a bush of flowers hung over the water. At the other end, under the water, was a circle of wood, its top perhaps 12 inches below the surface of the water. In the pond there were eight great ancient carp, each maybe 18 inches long, orange, gold, purple, and black: the oldest one had been there eighty years. The eight fish swam, slowly, slowly, in circles—often within the wooden circle. The whole world was in that pond. Every day the farmer sat by it for a few minutes. I was there only one day and I sat by it all afternoon. Even now, I cannot think about it without tears. --Christopher Alexander

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Few books that I've read have made an impression on me as profound as Christopher Alexander's brilliant, strange A Pattern Language, though this quotation is actually from The Timeless Way of Building.

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Comments

[George Kao]

Simply beautiful, memorable, transformative.

Thank you for sharing, Gretchen.

[Ernährung]

The author is a nature-lover. No wonder you also took the time to indulged more on his writings. Might somehow do the same.

[Ernährung]

The author is a nature-lover. No wonder you also took the time to indulged more on his writings. Might somehow do the same.

[Hung-Su]

Please excuse me for sounding ignorant, but can anyone explain to me what they feel having read this quote? It means nothing to me.

[FupDuckTV]

Hung-Su: The quote is about a Manic-Depressive (Bi-Polar) with Obsesssive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) tendancies. Note author's constant counting, belabored details and his uncontrolable emotions at the end of the quote. Clearly written by someone that needs help.

[Hilary Caws-Elwitt]

Christopher Alexander is an under-appreciated genius. (it's thanks to the Whole Earth Catalog that I heard of him) Why haven't his ideas spread more widely? A Pattern Language explains so much about what makes rooms, buildings, houses, streets and cities livable and beautiful. A book everyone should at least skim. Thanks, Gretchen!

[Laura]

Yes!! I LOVE A Pattern Language - one of the most important books of the last 100 years and not well known.