Book excerpt: An Inquiry Into Values. You may be asking yourself, “What do Zen and motorcycle maintenance have in common?” Well, you’d be surprised! While Zen typically deals with meditative and spiritual practices, motorcycle maintenance deals with nuts, bolts, and greasy parts. However, if you want to live a balanced life, you’ll need to embrace both. Motorcycle maintenance describes those who are classically minded, those who enjoy science and look at the world more rationally. On the other hand, Zen describes those who think romantically, those who enjoy the arts and experience the world through emotions. They see the world as a whole while ignoring the details. You may find that you already identify yourself as one or the other, right? According to Pirsig, however, balance and quality come from balancing the two mindsets. In fact, many problems and conflicts arise when classically minded people can’t understand the romantic mode of thought and vice versa. So how can we combine the two and learn from one another? Well, you can begin by following Pirsig on a motorcycle as he tells the story of how a single road trip led to enlightenment. As you read, you’ll learn why romantics avoid fixing things, you’ll become introduced to Phaedrus and his search for Quality, and how Quality can lead to a balanced, harmonious life. Do you want more free book summaries like this? Download our app for free at https://www.QuickRead.com/App and get access to hundreds of free book and audiobook summaries. DISCLAIMER: This book summary is meant as a preview and not a replacement for the original work. If you like this summary please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book on QuickRead and want us to remove it, please contact us at [email protected].