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A character in Kung Fu

Caine quotes from Kung Fu

Played by Radames Pera · 15 quotes

Caine

Played by Radames Pera

Kung Fu · 38 quotes

Most-quoted character in Kung Fu: in 15 of its 38 quotes
Most scenes with: Master Po (5), Master Kan (3)

Lines by Caine 1

Scenes with Caine 14

DCDisciple Caine

Master, do we seek victory in contention?

Seek rather not to contend.

Caine

But shall we not then be defeated?

We know that where there is no contention, there is neither defeat nor victory. The supple willow does not contend against the storm, yet it survives.

Avoid, rather than check. Check, rather than hurt. Hurt, rather than maim. Maim, rather than kill. For all life is precious, nor can any be replaced.

DCDisciple Caine

Master, our bodies are prey to many needs: hunger, thirst, the need for love.

In one lifetime, a man knows many pleasures: a mother's smile in waking hours, a young woman's intimate, searing touch, and the laughter of grandchildren in the twilight years. To deny these in ourselves is to deny that which makes us one with nature.

Caine

Shall we then seek to satisfy these needs?

Only acknowledge them and satisfaction will follow. To suppress a truth is to give it force beyond endurance.

Caine

Is it good to seek the past, Master Po? Does it not rob the present?

If a man dwells on the past, then he robs the present. But if a man ignores the past, he may rob the future. The seeds of our destiny are nurtured by the roots of our past.

Seek not to know the answers, but to understand the questions.

MKMaster Kahn

We do not punish for trust. If while building a house, a carpenter strikes a nail. It proves faulty by bending. Does the carpenter then lose faith in all nails and stop building his house?

Young Caine

Then we are required to trust, even when we are reminded of the existence of evil.

MKMaster Kahn

Deal with evil through strength. But affirm the good in man through trust. In this way, we are prepared for evil, but we encourage good.

Young Caine

And is good our great reward for trusting?

MKMaster Kahn

In striving for an ideal, we do not seek rewards. Yet trust does sometimes bring with it a great reward, even greater than good.

Young Caine

What is greater than good?

MKMaster Kahn

Love.

Caine

Can a woman be happy alone?

SYSu Yen Lu

To be alone, without one to love, is a waste of the body. To be not alone, without one to love, is a waste of the soul.

[Caine has given another Shaolin monk a sextant that had belonged to his father.]

You wish no longer to savor the memory of your father through that which was close to him?

Caine

Master. You have taught me to claim no possessions, that none may claim me.

The sextant was only a memory, which you could keep not only in your heart, but in your hands.

Caine

I am of age. I must put away such memories.

Between father and son, there is a bridge which neither time nor death can shatter. Each stands at one end, needing to cross and meet.

Caine

But he is dead.

The bridge of which I speak, Grasshopper, is your love for him.

NNoreen

You've learned to trust people, but doesn't it hurt you?

Caine

And you? Not trusting... Are you not hurt more?

NNoreen

How do you go through all that and not get twisted.. out of shape by it?

Caine

I seek... Not to know all the answers... But to understand the questions.

Caine

Master, what is the best way to meet the loss of one we love?

By knowing that when we truly love it is never lost. It is only after death that the depth of the bond is truly felt and our loved one becomes more a part of us than was possible in life.

Caine

Are we only able to feel this toward those whom we have known and loved a long time?

Sometimes a stranger known to us for moments can spark our souls to kinship for eternity.

Caine

How can strangers take on such importance to our souls?

Because our soul does not keep time; it merely records growth.

Season 2 Episode #7 – The Tong

There is much evil in the world, grasshopper. It has always been thus. ...

Violence became their tool for combating violence. ...

Two hundred years have passed. The Manchus are still sitting upon the throne. The tong still kill, no longer for a noble cause yet they are the children of the five Shaolin priests who went to Fukien long ago ...

Caine

Master, must we not do more than mourn this wrong? We must right it.

How, grasshopper?

Caine

Strike down this tong. Take away from our children the power to do wrong.

That is what they said in Fukien 200 years ago.

No, grasshopper, evil cannot be conquered in the world. It can only be resisted within oneself.

WMWhite Missonary

Matthew 5:39, "Resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

Caine

I do not know your Bible, but our sage Lao-tzu has written: "A wise man does not contend therefore, no one can contend against him. Yield and overcome."

WWing

Could you teach it to me. I will never tell anyone.

Caine

You think wisdom is like a flower for you to pluck. It is a mountain and it must be climbed.

WWing

I am not worthy.

Caine

You are not willing.

WWing

Do you know some magic that is stronger than death?

Caine

If a man lives it is a certainty he will died. Therefore, it is foolish to think of death as if he were a foe to be vanquished. He will come when he will come. That's all.

That is what you risk, Grasshopper: great pain, or great joy.

Caine

Master, if I shall love others, how can I be sure that they in return will love me in return?

Do you seek love or barter?

Caine

But, if I love others and they do not love me, I shall feel great pain.

That is what you risk, Grasshopper: great pain, or great joy.

Unknown Episode

Caine

I have been in the marketplace. All of the men there argue and fight. There is no peace.

Why does that trouble you, when your home is here?

Caine

I want all men to know peace.

It is written in the 'Tao Te Ching', "Under heaven, all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil. Therefore, having and not having arise together. Difficult and easy complement each other. High and low rest upon each other. Front and back follow one another."

Caine

But Master, do we not want all men to know our peace, our joy?

Would you make the whole world a temple? Be like the sun, and what is within you will warm the earth.

These quotes come from Wikiquote's Kung Fu pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.