Matsuo Basho Quotes

Matsuo Basho — Japanese Poet died on November 28, 1694

Matsuo Bashō, born 松尾金作, then Matsuo Chūemon Munefusa, was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest master of haiku. Matsuo Bashō's poetry is internationally renowned; and, in Japan, many of his poems are reproduced on monuments and traditional sites. Although Bashō is justifiably famous in the West for his hokku, he himself believed his best work lay in leading and participating in renku. He is quoted as saying, “Many of my followers can write hokku as well as I can. Where I show who I really am is in linking haikai verses.”.. (wikipedia)

The moon is brighter since the barn burned.

Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.

The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought.

There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.