Ruth Ozeki
Ruth Ozeki
Ruth Ozekiis an American-Canadian novelist, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest. She worked in commercial television and media production for over a decade and made several independent films before turning to writing fiction...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth12 March 1956
CountryCanada
life mean giving
..I am a time being. Do you know what a time being is? Well, if you give me a moment, I will tell you. A time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me, and every one of us who is, or was, or ever will be.
water information hard
Information is a lot like water; it's hard to hold on to, and hard to keep from leaking away.
determination book focus
An unfinished book. left unattended, turns feral, and she would need all her focus, will and ruthless determination to tame it again.
beautiful memories cherry-blossom
I have a pretty good memory, but memories are time beings, too, like cherry blossoms or ginkgo leaves; for a while they are beautiful, and then they fade and die.
flow wake-up our-lives
Everything in the universe is constantly changing, and nothing stays the same, and we must understand how quickly time flows by if we are to wake up and truly live our lives.
stories seeds
Every seed has a story.
understanding ancient length
With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.
generosity infinite abandon
The wondrous thing about nature, her gift to us, is her wanton promiscuity. She reproduces herself with abandon, with teeming infinite generosity.
over-it
But in the time it takes to say now, now is already over. It's already then.
bullying pain inspiration
No matter how much bullying they inflict on my body, as long as I have this hope, I can endure any pain.
inspiration writing world
Inspiration comes from everything from the entire world, and its hard to pinpoint one thing. I can trace one inspiration to the writing of 13th-century Zen master Dogen Zenji, who writes beautifully about time.
writing up-early irritation
When Im writing a novel, which is what I like to write, I get up early, sit zazen, make a pot of green tea. I wear wrist cuffs to keep my wrists warm and minimize irritation from extended contact with the surface of my desk. I sit down and write.
book writing successful
Writing a book is a way of thinking to me, the only way of thinking that I have found successful.
language conjuring form
language is magical - it's a form of conjuring. If you do it convincingly, readers will follow you.