Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Critique • Quotes
First editionSubtitle
An Inquiry into Values
First publication
1974
Literature form
Novel
Genres
Literary, philosophical
Writing language
English
Author's country
United States
Length
Approx. 175,000 words
Notable lines
I can see by my watch, without taking my hand from the left grip of the cycle, that it is eight-thirty in the morning.
— First line
The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth," and so it goes away. Puzzling.
A really new exploration, one that would look to us today the way the world looked to Columbus, would have to be in an entirely new direction.
The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.
Your common sense is nothing more than the voices of thousands and thousands of these ghosts from the past.
The pencil is mightier than the pen.
It's going to get better now. You can sort of tell these things.
— Last lines
Critique • Quotes
See also:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Buy the book:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
On Twitter:
