On Quality An Inquiry into Excellence Unpublished and Selected Writings

"The ultimate goal in the pursuit of excellence is enlightenment." —Robert M. Pirsig, 1962
More than a decade before the release of the book that would make him famous, Robert M. Pirsig had already caught hold of the central theme that would animate Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: "Quality," a concept loosely likened to "excellence," "rightness," or "fitness" that Pirsig saw as kindred to the Buddhist ideas of "dharma" or the "Tao." As he later wrote in Zen, "Quality is the Buddha."
Though he was revered by fans who considered him a guru, the famously private Pirsig published only two books and consented to few interviews and almost no public appearances in later decades. Yet he wrote and thought...