After Bankei had passed away, a blind man who lived near the master’s
temple told a friend: “Since I am blind, I cannot watch a person’s
face, so I must judge his character by the sound of his voice.
Ordinarily when I hear someone congratulate another upon his happiness
or success, I also hear a secret tone of envy. When condolence is
expressed for the misfortune of another, I hear pleasure and
satisfaction, as if the one condoling was really glad there was
something left to gain in his own world.”
“In all my experience, however, Bankei’s voice was always sincere.
Whenever he expressed happiness, I heard nothing but happiness, and
whenever he expressed sorrow, sorrow was all I heard.”
After Bankei had passed away, a blind man who lived near the master’s
temple told a friend: “Since I am blind, I cannot watch a person’s
face, so I must judge his character by the sound of his voice.
Ordinarily when I hear someone congratulate another upon his happiness
or success, I also hear a secret tone of envy. When condolence is
expressed for the misfortune of another, I hear pleasure and
satisfaction, as if the one condoling was really glad there was
something left to gain in his own world.”
“In all my experience, however, Bankei’s voice was always sincere.
Whenever he expressed happiness, I heard nothing but happiness, and
whenever he expressed sorrow, sorrow was all I heard.”
Mindset Tip: Imitation can feel frustrating, but it’s also a sign that your work is impactful. Stay true to your artistic voice—it’s something no one else can duplicate.
“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”
We were founded as an ad agency that didn’t like advertising. A company with no guiding principle other than to make great work for inspiring clients. We try to be the kind of place where creatively-driven people with the widest perspectives possible can come to do the best work of their lives and find ways to use the work to say something. And for over 40 years we’ve made work that helps build brands and influence culture. From “Just Do It” to “This Is SportsCenter” to “Dilly Dilly” we’ve tried to use creativity to make a dent in the world across every medium and every discipline. Most people out there have no idea who we are, but they probably know some of the things we’ve made.
“We are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as nothing but an infinitesimal hairline between a causative past and an absorbingly important future. We have no present. Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do not realize that there never was, is, nor will be any other experience than present experience. We are therefore out of touch with reality.”
