This post contains excerpts from Robert Pirsig's book Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals.

The words are all his, the editing choices are all mine, the consequences of reading are all yours.

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Dynamic is Better, Static is Good Too

Life can’t exist on dynamic quality alone. It has no staying power. To cling to [it] … apart from any static patterns it to cling to chaos. Static patterns … provide a necessary stabilizing force to protect Dynamic progress from degeneration. Dynamic Quality … freedom..creates this world in which we live,Static Quality … order … preserves our world. Neither can survive without the other.

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“Life can't exist on dynamic quality alone. It has no staying power.”

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  • By Conflict is Inside | iamronen on October 26, 2010 at 6:47 am

    […] have come to understand and believe that “The System” is a residue of experience. It is an accumulation of Static Quality that has been left behind by Dynamic experience. Some […]

  • By A Personal Story of How Society Breeds Crime | iamronen on December 28, 2011 at 12:49 pm

    […] have learned that society is a precious and delicately balanced pattern. It is flexible enough to allow an untamed and challenging individual like myself to mature within […]

  • By Christopher Alexander on Static & Dynamic - iamronen on March 15, 2016 at 11:07 am

    […] dynamic and static indeed … and also … how to juggle these two qualities […]

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