Kung Fu

 Way back in the early 1970s I was, like many others, very taken with the TV series Kung Fu about the adventures and travails of an American/Chinese, Shaolin Monastery-trained monk and martial arts master in the often violent world of the 19th century American West. Utilising the classic dramatic device of a 'clash of cultures', the central character Kwai Chang Caine, played by David Carradine, attempted to live by and promote the essentially Daoist teachings he had acquired from his Chinese Masters.

Over many years, I often recalled my fondness for the show, it's central character and general ethos. I sometimes found myself wondering about its potentially formative influence on my own philosophical leanings. So earlier this year I decided to re-watch some of the episodes to see what 'lessons' they contained. To date I've only completed the entire first series but there are still some wonderful quotations to be found in its scripts. Following are those of which I made particular note. I hope you might enjoy them as I still do?

Kung Fu: Season 1

Pilot
'If one's words are no better than silence, one should keep silent.'

 

Episode 1 - King of the Mountain
'Only acknowledge [needs], and satisfaction will follow. To suppress a truth is to give it force beyond endurance.'

 

Episode 4 - An Eye for an Eye
'He who knows how to live, need not fear death. Because a man who knows how to live, has no place for death to enter.'

'To hate is like drinking salt water [your] thirst gets worse.'

'Hate is the tomb you weave. It will not save you from suffering '

'What kind of man are you?'
'A man. Like other men.'

 

Episode 5 - The Tide
'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.'

'Where's your horse?'
'I have no horse.'
'How do you get around?
'I walk.'

'Those who value freedom most, must sometimes choose to lose it.'

 

Episode 6 - The Soul is the Warrior
'A tree falling in the forest without ears to hear, makes no sound. Yet, it falls.'

 

Episode 7 - Nine Lives
'To go anywhere, begin by taking a first step.'

'Is it not sad master, that the hands of a man may strike a blow, as well as caress?'
'Pain and pleasure are like two bells, side by side, and the voice of each makes a trembling in the other.'

'In his own time, each man finds a place to stand.'

 

Episode 8 - Sun and Cloud Shadow
'I have three treasures which I hold and keep. The first is mercy, for from mercy comes courage. The second is frugality, from which comes generosity to others. The third is humility, for from it comes leadership.'
'Strange treasures. How shall I hold them and keep them? In memory?'
'No, not in memory, but in your deeds.'

 

Episode 9 - Chains
'We are one, yet we are not the same. Ten million living things, have as many different worlds.'

'Do not see yourself as the centre of the universe, wise and good and beautiful. Seek rather wisdom, goodness and beauty, that you may honour them everywhere.'

 

Episode 10 - Alethea
'To say and to listen. To teach what we know truly to those who do not know. To send peaceful thoughts over the bridge of words.'

'Reach out, but be wary of what you allow yourself to grasp.'

 

Episode 11 - The Praying Mantis Kills
'I do not do it. It is not done … It is only experienced. It happens … The pole [target], the arrow, the bow, are one. Not many things. Not different things. One.'

'It is good, it remains a puzzle. When you cease to strive to understand, then you will know, without understanding.'

 

Episode 13 - The Stone
'So is truth, hard to understand, except that which cannot be spoken.'
'But should I not always speak the truth, no matter what the consequences?'
'Recognise that all words are part false, and part true, limited by our imperfect understanding. But strive always for honesty within yourself.'

'What is cowardice, but the body's wisdom of its weakness. What is bravery, but the body's wisdom of its strength. The coward and the hero march together within every man. So to call one man coward and another brave, merely serves to indicate the possibilities of their achieving the opposite.'

'To fight injustice anywhere, is to fight it everywhere.'

 

Episode 14 - The Third Man
'What's your name?'
'Caine.'
'What do you do Caine?'
'I work, eat, learn.'

'In every loss there is gain, as in every gain there is loss.'

'It is a fact, it is not the truth. Truth is often hidden, like a shadow in darkness.'

'Love cannot measure itself until the hour of parting.'

'Is not to trust, to rely on someone of whom you know nothing?'

'You've learned to trust people, but doesn't it hurt you?'
'And you, not trusting, are you not hurt more?'

'I seek, not to know all the answers, but to understand the questions.'

 

Episode 15 - The Ancient Warrior
'Can't I be of help?'
'Any man can be of help to another man. What have you to offer?'

'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 a bond is truly felt, and our loved one becomes more a part of us than was possible in life.'
'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.'
'How can strangers take on such importance to our souls?'
'Because our soul does not keep time, but merely records growth.'

'It is better to cover the land with love than to let it cover you with hate.'