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Robert M. Pirsig
Sign in to saveAlso known as Robert Maynard Pirsig, Robert Pirsig
American writer and philosopher (1928–2017)
OverviewAI-generated
Robert M. Pirsig (1928–2017) was an American writer, philosopher, novelist, and autobiographer. Born in Minneapolis, he was educated at the University of Chicago, the University of Minnesota, and Banaras Hindu University. Pirsig served in the United States Army and worked as an employee at Montana State University. His fields of work included literature and philosophy, and he wrote in English.
His notable works include *Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance* and *Lila: An Inquiry into Morals*. Other listed works are *Lila's Child* and *On Quality*. Pirsig received a Guggenheim Fellowship. He died in South Berwick on April 24, 2017.
Synthesized by Vinony from 32 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Crossref, Last.fm, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 6 Sep 1928
- Died
- 24 Apr 2017
- Works
- 4
Top works
- Lila's Child
- On Quality
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
- Lila
via Open Library + Wikidata
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Male
- Country
- United States
- Active from
- 1928
- Active to
- 2017
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 998
- Total plays
- 17,478
Robert Maynard Pirsig (born September 6, 1928) is an American writer and philosopher, and the author of the philosophical novels Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974) and Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991). <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Robert+M.+Pirsig">Read more on Last.fm</a>
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
- Development of the Colle-Salvetti correlation-energy formula into a functional of the electron density
· 1988 · cited 95,701x
- Hallmarks of Cancer: The Next Generation
· 2011 · cited 56,505x
- Research electronic data capture (REDCap)—A metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support
· 2009 · cited 46,771x
- Regression Shrinkage and Selection Via the Lasso
· 1996 · cited 39,738x
- The PHQ-9
· 2001 · cited 39,435x
via Crossref · CC0
Quotes
- “Art is anything you can do well. Anything you can do with Quality.”
- “Making... an art out of your technological life is the way to solve the problem of technology.”
- “What follows is based on actual occurrences. Although much has been changed for rhetorical purposes, it must be regarded in its essence as fact. However, it should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice. It's not very factual on motorcycles, either.”
- “You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other. In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.”
- “The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth," and so it goes away. Puzzling.”
- “We're in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk. The result is a kind of endless day-to-day shallowness, a monotony that leaves a person wondering years later where all the time went and sorry that it's all gone.”
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
Key facts
- Born
- Robert Maynard Pirsig , ( 1928-09-06 ) September 6, 1928, Minneapolis , Minnesota, U.S.
- Died
- April 24, 2017 (2017-04-24) (aged 88), South Berwick, Maine , U.S.
- Occupation
- Writer philosopher
- Education
- University of Minnesota ( BA , MA ) Banaras Hindu University University of Chicago
- Genre
- Philosophical fiction
- Notable works
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974) Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991)
- Notable awards
- Guggenheim Fellowship (1974)
- Spouse
- Nancy Ann James ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1954 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1978 ) Wendy Kimball ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1978 )
- Parent
- Maynard Pirsig (father)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Minneapolis
- Place of death
- South Berwick
- Occupation
- autobiographer
- Employer
- Montana State University
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Notable work
- Lila: An Inquiry into Morals
- Field of work
- philosophy
- Military branch
- United States Army
- Image
- Pirsig2005.jpg
Show 4 more facts
- date of birth
- 1928-09-06
- Commons category
- Robert M. Pirsig
- date of death
- 2017-04-24
- medical condition
- schizophrenia
via Wikidata · CC0
~10 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Robert Maynard Pirsig (/ˈpɜːrsɪɡ/; September 6, 1928 – April 24, 2017) was an American writer and philosopher. He is the author of the philosophical books Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974) and Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991), and he co-authored On Quality: An Inquiry Into Excellence: Selected and Unpublished Writings (2022) along with his wife and editor, Wendy Pirsig.
Early life, family and education
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Robert M. Pirsig” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.