Alan Watts Quotes

Alan Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker known for popularizing Eastern philosophy and spirituality in the Western world. His lectures and books explored topics such as Zen Buddhism, Taoism, and the nature of consciousness, inspiring many to seek a deeper understanding of existence.

In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe, becomes a person who has no faith at all.

I owe my solitude to other people.

Omnipotence is not knowing how everything is done;... -Alan Watts

Omnipotence is not knowing how everything is done; it's just doing it.

Faith is a state of openness or trust.

Discovering the context

The quote describes faith as a state characterized by openness and trust, indicating a belief in the importance of trust and receptiveness in matters of faith or spirituality.

The reason we want to go on and on is because we l... -Alan Watts

The reason we want to go on and on is because we live in an impoverished present.

But at any rate, the point is that God is what nob... -Alan Watts

But at any rate, the point is that God is what nobody admits to being, and everybody really is.

In known history, nobody has had such capacity for altering the universe than the people of the United States of America. And nobody has gone about it in such an aggressive way.

And although our bodies are bounded with skin, and we can differentiate between outside and inside, they cannot exist except in a certain kind of natural environment.

We identify in our experience a differentiation be... -Alan Watts

We identify in our experience a differentiation between what we do and what happens to us.

Religion is not a department of life; it is someth... -Alan Watts

Religion is not a department of life; it is something that enters into the whole of it.

The moralist is the person who tells people that they ought to be unselfish, when they still feel like egos, and his efforts are always and invariably futile.

Saints need sinners.

The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of it, only in it, only confronting it - aliens.

A myth is an image in terms of which we try to mak... -Alan Watts

A myth is an image in terms of which we try to make sense of the world.

The religious idea of God cannot do full duty for ... -Alan Watts

The religious idea of God cannot do full duty for the metaphysical infinity.

Discovering the context

This quote reflects on the limitations of religious concepts of God in fully encompassing the vastness and complexity of metaphysical infinity. It suggests that religious perspectives and interpretations may fall short in comprehending the entirety of the metaphysical realm. It underscores the idea that human understanding of God is inherently limited.

Technology is destructive only in the hands of people who do not realize that they are one and the same process as the universe.

The difficulty for most of us in the modern world is that the old-fashioned idea of God has become incredible or implausible.

So then, the relationship of self to other is the complete realization that loving yourself is impossible without loving everything defined as other than yourself.

The style of God venerated in the church, mosque, or synagogue seems completely different from the style of the natural universe.