Master Po quotes from Kung Fu

Caine

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

Master Po

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.

Master Po

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

Master Po

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.

Master Po

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.

Master Po

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.

Master Po

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

Master Po

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

Master Po

Violence became their tool for combating violence. ...

Master Po

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.

Master Po

How, grasshopper?

Caine

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

Master Po

That is what they said in Fukien 200 years ago.

Master Po

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

He calls me "Oil and Water' because I have white blood. ...

Master Po

And you wish it were not true. ...

Master Po

Time is carving you, grasshopper. Let yourself be shaped according to your true nature.

Master Po

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?

Master Po

Do you seek love or barter?

Caine

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

Master Po

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

Caine

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

Master Po

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

Caine

I want all men to know peace.

Master Po

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?

Master Po

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