Gautama Buddha Quotes
Most popular Gautama Buddha Quotes
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings — that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth and faithfulness the greatest relationship.
We do not possess our home, our children, or even our own body. They are only given to us for a short while to treat with care and respect.
In a man's family, respect and listening are the source of harmony.
Though a fool spend all his life with wise men, he will know the truth no more than a spoon knows the taste of the soup.
Life is accessible only in the present moment.
Forgiveness is primarily for our own sake, so that we no longer carry the burden of resentment. But to forgive does not mean we will allow injustice again.
I taught you not to believe merely because you have heard, but when you believed of your consciousness, then to act accordingly and abundantly.
Life is a bridge, build no house upon it; it is a river, cling not to its banks; it is a gymnasium, use it to develop the mind on the apparatus of circumstance; it is a journey, take it and walk on.
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it - even if I have said it - unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
Learn to let go. That is the key to happiness.
In wisdom be a lamp, a light unto yourself.
Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten.
All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.
One who is not happy with nothing, will not be happy with anything.
Not getting what you desire and getting what you desire can both be disappointing.
The only effort by any intelligent being in this world is to know something that can not be destroyed by death.
Everything is changeable, everything appears and disappears; there is no blissful peace until one passes beyond the agony of life and death.
As you travel through life, offer good wishes to each being you meet.
Take time everyday to sit quietly and listen.
However many holy words you read, how many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act upon them?
You are all the Buddha.
No matter how difficult the past, you can always begin today.
Do not disregard the accumulation of goodness, saying, 'This will come to nothing.' By the gradual falling of raindrops, a jar is filled. The wise man becomes full of good, even if he gathers it little by little.
Do not be attached to the judgments of others, for your interpretation in the end will be the most important.
Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
If you take care of each moment, you will take care of all time.
Always have the support of a joyful mind in all situations.
Help men but don't get in the way of men being able to help themselves.
Everything in moderation, including moderation.
Do not draw attention to yourself as you perform good works.
Do not expect thanks.
Life is so hard, how can we be anything but kind?
He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
We are not independent but interdependent.
Learn to respond, not react.
Better to conquer yourself than to conquer thousands in battle.
Simplicity brings more happiness than complexity.
Even death is not to be feared by he who has lived wisely.
The more fully we give our energy, the more it returns to us.
What we think, we become.
A jug fills drop by drop.
Be a light unto yourself.
There is no joy like peace.
The greatest prayer is patience.
The mind contains all possibilities.
It is better to travel well than to arrive.
Do not work to make money for money's sake.
Only by nonviolence is excellence achieved.
The trouble is that you think you have time.
In all circumstances, try to cultivate virtue.
That which is time, is timeless, is found now.
The greatest word in any language is nobility.
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.
Do not expect truth to prevail in all situations.
When you walk, just walk; when you eat, just eat.
The mind is everything. What you think you become.
To understand everything is to forgive everything.
Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.
Give up all hope for results and be in the moment.
The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.
Joy and openness come from our own contented heart.
Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.
Blessings come from care, troubles from carelessness.
Free your heart. Travel like the moon among the stars.
If you do not care for each other, who will care for you?
Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.
Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.
The tongue like a sharp knife ... Kills without drawing blood.
Do not make someone else do the work that you should be doing.
There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it.
Study the teachings of the great sages of all sects impartially.
Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.
Don't keep searching for the truth, just let go of your opinions.
Purity and impurity belong to oneself; no one can purify another.
Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.
I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.
He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.
Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.
If a man's mind becomes pure, his surroundings will also become pure.
Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.
Holy is the forest. Holy is that place where the senses are at peace.
There is the path of fear and the path of love. Which will you follow?
The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.
Observe proper action at all times, even at the risk of your own life.
Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.
Do not seek perfection in a changing world. Instead, perfect your love.
Let me not look for allies in life's battlefield but to my own strength.
Desire blinds us, like the pickpocket who sees only the saint's pockets.
An upright posture and a few relaxed breaths can make a great difference.
It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.
Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion.
At the bottom of things, most people want to be understood and appreciated.
What you are is what you have been, and what you will be is what you do now.
Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.
Inner freedom is not guided by our efforts; it comes from seeing what is true.
Whatever we cultivate in time of ease, we gather as strength for time of change.
Weigh the true advantages of forgiveness and resentment to the heart. Then choose.
The only way to bring peace to the earth is to learn to make our own life peaceful.
We do not need more knowledge but more wisdom. Wisdom comes from our own attention.
Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart give yourself to it.
All wrongdoing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrongdoing remain?
Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.
Do not judge yourself harshly. Without mercy for ourselves we cannot love the world.
You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.
No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
If you can't find the truth right where you are, where else do you think you will find it?
Be grateful to all men for the teachings they give, be it in understanding or in tolerance.
All great teachings have the single purpose of controlling the ego to create a better world.
To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance.
Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that, and all will be well.
Without health life is not life; it is only a state of langour and suffering—an image of death.
Seek friends who have beliefs and habits like thine own and in whom thou canst place thy trust.
Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two.
A man should first direct himself in the way he should go. Only then should he instruct others.
Just as a picture is drawn by an artist, surroundings are created by the activities of the mind.
The wise ones fashioned speech with their thought, sifting it as grain is sifted through a sieve.
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Do not dwell in the past. Do not dream of the future. Concentrate the mind on the present moment.
Constantly maintain alertness of consciousness in walking, in sitting, in eating, and in sleeping.
The smallest good deed done unselfishly is more precious than innumerable good deeds done selfishly.
If a man speaks or acts with pure thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.
We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.
Words have the power to destroy or heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change the world.
The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one.
Be a lamp to yourself. Be your own confidence. Hold to the truth within yourself, as to the only truth.
Love in the past is only a memory. Love in the future is a fantasy. Only here and now can we truly love.
There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.
Begin each day with the idea of being able to generate compassion and understanding the whole day through.
Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
To keep the body in good health is a duty ... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
The virtues, like the Muses, are always seen in groups. A good principle was never found solitary in any breast.
The heart is like a garden. It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. What seeds will you plant there?
Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the man who endures that the final victory comes.
In business, reinvest a portion of all you make, keep a portion for your use, and save a portion for those in need.
However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?
All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.
If you have a friend sober, pure, and wise, let nothing hold you back — find delight and instruction in his company.
Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.
Although a cloth be washed a hundred time, how can it be rendered clean and pure if it be washed in water which is dirty?
We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.
In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.
Our own worst enemy cannot harm us as much as our unwise thoughts. No man can help us as much as our own compassionate thoughts.
Foolish to think that truth is in untruth, equally foolish that untruth is in truth — truth is always truth, untruth always untruth.
In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.
Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a great tree in the midst of them all.
Fear is always an anticipation of what has not yet come. Our fear and separation are great, but the truth of our connection is greater still.
An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.
For a man who understandeth thoroughly the teachings which he hath received, it is the same whether he meets with good fortune or with bad fortune.
It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one finds pleasure in listening to good teachings; when one has these feelings and appreciates them, one is free of fear.
What is the appropriate behaviour for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris? What's the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood?
A man that cleaves to wealth had better cast it away than allow his heart to be poisoned by it; but a man who does not cleave to wealth, and possessing riches, uses them rightly, will be a blessing unto his fellow humans.
There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.
It is wrong to think that misfortunes come from the east or from the west; they originate within one's own mind. Therefore, it is foolish to guard against misfortunes from the external world and leave the inner mind uncontrolled.
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so let us all be thankful.
The charitable man is loved by all; his friendship is prized highly; in death his heart is at rest and full of joy, for he suffers not from repentance; he receives the opening flower of his reward and the fruit that ripens from it.
Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.
Giving brings happiness at every stage of its expression. We experience joy in forming the intention to be generous, we experience joy in the actual act of giving something, and we experience joy in remembering the fact that we have given.
To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.
Avoid these two extremes . . . which two? On the one hand, low, vulgar, ignoble, and useless indulgence in passion and luxury; and on the other, painful, ignoble and useless practice of self-torture and mortification. Take the Middle Path for it leads to insight and peace, wisdom and enlightenment, and to Nirvana.
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
