5 Life-changing "Quotes" Alan watts.

Alan Wilson Watts: A great mind, a prolific author, and a brilliant philosopher, loved for his whimsical intelligence, and distinguished by his absorbing wisdom.

│Here are some of the most captivating Alan Watts' Quotes with my commentary.

1) "Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way."

A life fully experienced is better than life left ignored, we wish we'd had a longer life-span, even though we might not have known what to do with it. We only feel that we're truly living, when we're whole-heartedly involved in it, and making the most of it. Whereas spending it passively without a sense of curiosity nor an urge for exploration, we are wasting the ideal beauty of life. Therefore, a shorter, but fully experienced life, outweighs a longer, but miserable life.

2) "Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command."

No surprise that love has been given many definitions by all kinds of writers, and has always been the root cause of all poetry. In this Quote, Alan breaks a conventional conception, that is highly misunderstood and unfortunately forgotten in many societies, the misconception that Love can be enforced and commanded, because this is exactly the reason why we often misguide others with our feelings, as we were being taught the un-teachable, evading the fact that Love is impulsive and arises only from within.

│Love can't be conveyed, nor even interpreted by words, you can't teach a child how to love and you certainly can't teach them who to love, love can't be possessed, yet it certainly exists, very powerfully.

 3) "The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless."

   Knowing that everything has an end is not a discouraging idea, nor troubling, contrarily, it flourishes our experience in life. For instance, we value the people we love the most; one of the reasons we value them, is because we are deeply aware of our mortality, and we know from the bottom of our heart, that being with the people we love is an impermenant event, and that very thought scares us, but it also fills us up with a sincere feeling of compassion. Whereas, with a mentality that avoids to be aware of the inevitable mortality of our nature, discards the urgency to enjoy life before it's slipped away.

4) "No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now."

Only with the capacity to live now the man can set great plans, yes planning for the future is fundamental to building the life we want for ourselves and create the life we enjoy, the way Alan puts it here is rather sensible and rational, as being alive doesn't come by planning, you can't plan to be living tomorrow, as living can only happen now.

5) "To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax and float."

Here, Alan gives us a perspective-changing insight into the meaning of faith. Unlike primarily understood, faith is the act of letting go, the act of trusting that you are, no matter what happens, will always be embraced by the divine power of the universe. Whereas the lack of trust, causes fear; the fear of surrendering to what is beyond us, hence, holding on seems to be the best choice.  

And last but not least, thanks for reading my article, and don't forget to leave your thoughts down in the comment section^_^.