The Importance of Living

by Yutang, Lin

• ISBN13: 9780688163525
• ISBN10: 0688163521
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-04-14
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

The Importance of Living is a wry, witty antidote to the dizzying pace of the modern world. Lin Yutang's prescription is the classic Chinese philosophy of life: Revere inaction as much as action, invoke humor to maintain a healthy attitude, and never forget that there will always be plenty of fools around who are willing-indeed, eager-to be busy, to make themselves useful, and to exercise power while you bask in the simple joy of existence.

At a time when we're overwhelmed with wake-up calls, here is a refreshing, playful reminder to savor life's simple pleasures.

‘’Lin's prose is gentle, like the conversation of a favorite lazy uncle who is more at home sipping lemonade on the back porch than gulping lattes between meetings. The sincerity of his humility is surprising to a reader used to postmodern writers who seem to pride themselves on their self-abasement. Though Lin deliberately avoided fame and notoriety, correctly observing that it only leads to troubles, one can only hope that his wisdom, timelier than ever, finds a wider audience among today's too-busy-to-breathe global culture. His philosophy, more practical and enjoyable than the usual Western writings on the subject, reminds us all of the vital importance of simply living.’’ -Rob Lightner

Table of Contents

Preface	p. v
The Awakening	p. 1
Approach to Life	p. 1
A Pseudo-Scientific Formula	p. 4
The Scamp as Ideal	p. 11
Views of Mankind	p. 15
Christian, Greek and Chinese	p. 15
Earth-bound	p. 23
Spirit and Flesh	p. 25
A Biological View	p. 26
Human Life a Poem	p. 30
Our Animal Heritage	p. 32
The Monkey Epic	p. 32
In the Image of the Monkey	p. 35
On Being Mortal	p. 37
On Having a Stomach	p. 41
On Having Strong Muscles	p. 50
On Having a Mind	p. 55
On Being Human	p. 64
On Human Dignity	p. 64
On Playful Curiosity: The Rise of Human Civilization	p. 65
On Dreams	p. 72
On the Sense of Humor	p. 76
On Being Wayward and Incalculable	p. 81
The Doctrine of the Individual	p. 86
Who Can Best Enjoy Life?	p. 94
Find Thyself: Chuangtse	p. 94
Passion, Wisdom and Courage: Mencius	p. 97
Cynicism, Folly and Camouflage: Laotse	p. 104
"Philosophy of Half-and-Half": Tsesse	p. 110
A Lover of Life: T'ao Yuanming	p. 114
The Feast of Life	p. 121
The Problem of Happiness	p. 121
Human Happiness Is Sensuous	p. 125
Chin's Thirty-three Happy Moments	p. 129
Misunderstandings of Materialism	p. 136
How About Mental Pleasures?	p. 139
The Importance of Loafing	p. 144
Man the Only Working Animal	p. 144
The Chinese Theory of Leisure	p. 147
The Cult of the Idle Life	p. 150
This Earth the Only Heaven	p. 155
What Is Luck?	p. 159
Three American Vices	p. 160
The Enjoyment of the Home	p. 165
On Getting Biological	p. 165
Celibacy a Freak of Civilization	p. 169
On Sex Appeal	p. 175
The Chinese Family Ideal	p. 181
On Growing Old Gracefully	p. 190
The Enjoyment of Living	p. 200
On Lying in Bed	p. 200
On Sitting in Chairs	p. 204
On Conversation	p. 209
On Tea and Friendship	p. 219
On Smoke and Incense	p. 229
On Drink and Wine Games	p. 237
On Food and Medicine	p. 245
Some Curious Western Customs	p. 254
The Inhumanity of Western Dress	p. 257
On House and Interiors	p. 263
The Enjoyment of Nature	p. 274
Paradise Lost?	p. 274
On Bigness	p. 278
Two Chinese Ladies	p. 280
On Rocks and Trees	p. 291
On Flowers and Flower Arrangements	p. 300
The "Vase Flowers" of Yuan Chunglang	p. 308
The Epigrams of Chang Ch'ao	p. 315
The Enjoyment of Travel	p. 331
On Going About and Seeing Things	p. 331
"The Travels of Mingliaotse"	p. 340
The Reason for the Flight	p. 340
The Way of Traveling	p. 343
At Austere Heights	p. 345
Back to Humanity	p. 348
Philosophy of the Flight	p. 356
The Enjoyment of Culture	p. 364
Good Taste in Knowledge	p. 364
Art as Play and Personality	p. 368
The Art of Reading	p. 378
The Art of Writing	p. 386
Relationship to God	p. 399
The Restoration of Religion	p. 399
Why I Am a Pagan	p. 403
The Art of Thinking	p. 413
The Need for Humanized Thinking	p. 413
The Return to Common Sense	p. 419
Be Reasonable	p. 423
Certain Chinese Names	p. 429
A Chinese Critical Vocabulary	p. 432
Index of Names and Subjects	p. 451
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.