Famous Quotations
Does your room really have a view,
Or even a window to look through?
All I want is for you to look inside of you.
Don't be afraid to walk through the door.
Believe it or not, you've opened it.
~Chris Cormack, 1992
Source: Mind Moon Circle Quarterly, Autumn 1992, pp.21
Who speaks the sound of an echo?
Who paints the image in a mirror?
Where are the spectacles in a dream?
Nowhere at all -- that's the nature of mind!
~Tantric Buddhist Women's Songs, 8th - 11th c.
A yellow flower
(Light and spirit)
Sings by itself
For nobody.
A golden spirit
(Light and emptiness)
Sings without a word
By itself.
~Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton's Poetry: Emblems of a Sacred Season
Mountain fruit drop in the rain
and grass insects sing under my oil lamp.
White hair, after all, can never change
as yellow gold cannot be created.
If you want to know how to get rid
of age, its sickness, study nonbeing.
~Wang Wei, 699-761
Laughing Lost in the Mountains: Poems of Wang Wei, p. 129
One thing, all things:
move among and intermingle,
without distinction.
To live in this realization
is to be without anxiety about non-perfection.
To live in this faith is the road to non-duality,
Because the non-dual is one with the trusting mind.
~Hsin Hsin Ming, Verses On The Faith Mind
By Seng T'san,Third Zen Patriarch
Translated from the Chinese by Richard B. Clarke
A serving of snow in a silver bowl,
Or herons concealed in the glare of the moon
Apart, they seem similar, together, they're different.
Meaning cannot rest in words,
It adapts itself to that which arises.
Tremble and you're lost in a trap,
Miss and there's always regrets.
~Tozan Ryokai, The Song of the Jeweled Mirror Samadhi
Translation by: Toshu John Neatrour, Sheng-yen, Kaz Tanahashi
Crape myrtle, brilliant red, bursting forth;
Hiding the garden.
Some days, only the Garden, entire, serene;
Yet, hiding from sight, shy, single plants.
Seeing Both, seldom, but as One:
Sweat poured from my startled brow,
Dripping on the dry earth,
And all became Sunshine
And shadows of surprise unraveling.
~Michael P. Garofalo, Above the Fog
Being and non-being produce each other.
Difficulty and ease bring about each other.
Long and short delimit each other.
High and low rest on each other.
Sound and voice harmonize each other.
Front and back follow each other.
Therefore the sage abides in the condition of unattached action.
And carries out the wordless teaching.
Here, the myriad things are made, yet not separated.
~Tao Te Ching, #2
Translated by Charles Muller
Past mind can't be grasped,
Present mind can't be grasped,
Future mind can't be grasped.
With which mind will you drink this tea?
~A businesswoman questions Te Shan
Dust and sand in his eyes, dirt in his ears,
He doesn't consent to stay in the myriad peaks.
Falling flowers, flowing streams, very vast.
Suddenly raising my eyebrows - where has he gone?
~Hsueh-tou (980-1052), Roaring Stream
For such as, reflecting within themselves,
Testify to the truth of Self-nature,
To the truth that Self-nature is no-nature,
They have really gone beyond the ken of sophistry.
For them opens the gate of the oneness of cause and effect,
And straight runs the path of non-duality and non-trinity.
Abiding with the not-particular which is in particulars,
Whether going or returning, they remain for ever unmoved;
Taking hold of the not-thought which lies in thoughts,
In every act of theirs they hear the voice of the truth.
~Hakuin (1685-1768), Song of Meditation
Manual of Zen Buddhism
"I you want to follow the doctrine of the One,
Do not rage against the World of the Senses.
Only by accepting the World of the Senses
Can you share in the True Perception."
~Seng-ts'an
One is all; all are one.
When you realize this,
what reason for holiness or wisdom?
The mind of absolute trust
is beyond all thought, all striving,
is perfectly at peace, for in it
there is no yesterday, no today, no tomorrow.
~Sent-Ts'an, The Mind of Absolute Trust
Translated by Stephen Mitchell,
The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry
The 'you' who you think you are does not exist.
~Alan Watts
The deepest words
of the wise man teach us
the same as the whistle of the wind when it blows
or the sound of the water when it is flowing.
~Antonio Machado (1875-1939)
The Enlightened Heart, Edited by Stephen Mitchell, p. 129
Hearing a crow with no mouth
Cry in the deep
Darkness of the night,
I feel a longing for
My father before he was born.
~A Zen Harvest: Japanese Folk Zen Sayings, p. 147
Compiled and translated by Soiku Shigematsu
In studying ourselves,
we find the harmony
that is our total existence.
We do not make harmony.
We do not achieve it or gain it.
It is there all the time.
Here we are, in the midst of this perfect way,
and our practice is simply to realize it and then
to actualize it
in our everyday life.
~Maezumi Roshi
Great is the robe of liberation,
the robe of no form, the field of happiness!
I wear the Tathagata's teaching
to awaken countless beings.
~Zen Master Dogen, 1200 - 1253
Enlightenment Unfolds, Edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi, p. 95
With desire
the world is tied down.
With the subduing
of desire
it's freed.
With the abandoning
of desire
All bonds
are cut through.
~Iccha Sutta
Translated by John Bullitt
Buddhas and Fathers cut to pieces--
The sword is ever kept sharpened!
Where the wheel turns,
The void gnashes its teeth.
~Daito (1282-1336)
Manual of Zen Buddhism
Even plants and trees,
Which have no heart,
Wither with the passing days;
Beholding this,
Can anyone help but feel chagrin?
~Dogen, 1200 - 1253
Translated by Steven Heine
Motion and Emotion in Medieval Japanese Buddhism
Do not stray from "Walking is Ch'an, sitting is Ch'an!"
Essentially at ease whether talking or remaining silent, moving or staying still.
It is serene even when greeted with sharp weapons,
And is not worried about poisons.
It cannot be grasped, nor let go of,
But, if you do neither,
It goes its own way.
If you remain silent, it will speak.
Speak and it is silent.
~Ch'an Master Hsuan Chuen of Yung Chia
The Song of Enlightenment
We all sat in silence. This guy walks onto the stage and up to the microphone.
He adjusts his glasses. This is him, D. T. Suzuki, we've seen pictures of him before,
but he looks smaller. He reaches out and taps the mike. A hollow ping sounds
though the hall. He says: "Zen Buddhism, Very hard to understand. Thank you."
Then he walked off the stage.
~A story told by Jonathan Greenlee about a a visit by D. T. Suzuki to UCLA.
But whatever you do,
Do not hold on to the open mind;
For in doing so,
You will close it.
Abandon control;
The more you force it,
The more you remove yourself from it.
If it cannot come naturally,
Be open-minded about it and accept it;
Then the mind will open on it's own,
Without you obstructing it.
~By Anders Honore
Perceiving Mind
For thirty years I have been in search of the swordsman;
Many a time have I watched the leaves decay
and the branches shoot!
Ever since I saw for once the peaches in bloom,
Not a shadow of doubt do I cherish.
~Ling-Yün and the Peach Blossoms
D.T. Suzuki, Essays in Zen Buddhism, 1953, 2nd Series, p. 145,
Awakening,
I hear the truth--
gray rain on clay.
~Michael P. Garofalo, Above the Fog
The Buddha Mind contains the universe.
In this universe there is only one pure substance,
One absolute and indivisible Truth.
The notion of duality does not exist.
The small mind contains only illusions of separateness, of division.
It imagines myriad objects and defines truth in terms of relative opposites.
Big is defined by small, good by evil, pure by defiled,
Hidden by revealed, full by empty.
What is opposition?
It is the arena of hostility, of conflict and turmoil.
Where duality is transcended peace reigns.
This is the Dharma’s ultimate truth.
~Maxims of Master Han Shan Te'Ch'ing, # 76, 1600
Journey to Dreamland
Translated by Grandmaster Jy Din Shakya
How long had Ryoanji been there? You must have asked --
but there is no remembrance, just the rocks
and the gravel and the wall
and the very great silence,
the rootedness of deep meditation,
the weight of the rocks and the trees of this earth,
as if their roots grew right down through your heart...
~Jan Haag, Ryoanji Zen Garden
Long ago there was an immortal man
Who lived on the slope of Shooting Mountain.
Riding clouds and commanding flying dragons,
He did his breathing and supped on precious flowers.
He could be heard, but not seen.
Sighing sorrows and full emotions,
Self-tortured, he had no companion;
Grief and heartbreak piled upon him
"Study the familiar to penetrate the sublime"
But time is short and what's to be done?
~Juan Chi (210-263 CE)
My heart accepts its karma. In the end
The loss, defeat, and failure time may send
Can clear the way within to Buddhahood,
Which from the start foresaw and understood
That all things as they are, with no rejection,
Before the mind can judge them bad or good,
Are even now the Land of Pure Perfection.
~Harold Stewart
The round pearl has no hollows,
The great raw gem isn't polished.
What is esteemed by people of the Way is having no edges.
Removing the road of agrement, senses and matter are empty.
The free body, resting on nothing, stand out unique and alive.
~Hung-Chih, Book of Serenity
Do not go after the past,
Nor lose yourself in the future.
For the past no longer exists,
And the future is not yet here.
By looking deeply at things just as they are,
In this moment, here and now,
The seeker lives calmly and freely.
You should be attentive today,
For waiting until tomorrow is too late.
Death can come and take us by surprise--
How can we gainsay it?
The one who knows
How to live attentively
Night and day
Is the one who knows
The best way to be independent.
~Bhaddekaratta Sutra
In the Pocket Buddha Reader, edited by Anne Bancroft
Few people believe their
Inherent mind is Buddha.
Most will not take this seriously,
And therefore are cramped.
They are wrapped up in illusions, cravings,
Resentments, and other afflictions,
All because they love the cave of ignorance.
~Fenyang
To be able to be unhurried when hurried;
To be able not to slack off when relaxed;
To be able not to be frightened
And at a loss loss for what to do,
When frightened at at a loss;
This is the learning that returns us
To our natural state and transforms our lives.
~Liu Wenmin
A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.
~Buddha
A jug fills drop by drop.
~Buddha
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
~Buddha
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.
~Buddha
All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?
~Buddha
Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays and rivals.
~Buddha
An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.
~Buddha
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.
~Buddha
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
~Buddha
Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.
~Buddha
Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.
~Buddha
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
~Buddha
Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
~Buddha
Ennui has made more gamblers than avarice, more drunkards than thirst, and perhaps as many suicides as despair.
~Buddha
Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.
~Buddha
Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.
~Buddha
Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
~Buddha
Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little.
~Buddha
He is able who thinks he is able.
~Buddha
He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.
~Buddha
He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.
~Buddha
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha
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.
~Buddha
However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?
~Buddha
I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.
~Buddha
I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.
~Buddha
In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.
~Buddha
In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then beleive them to be true.
~Buddha
It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.
~Buddha
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.
~Buddha
It is better to travel well than to arrive.
~Buddha
Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.
~Buddha
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.
~Buddha
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.
~Buddha
No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
~Buddha
On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him.
~Buddha
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
~Buddha
Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.
~Buddha
The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.
~Buddha
The mind is everything. What you think you become.
~Buddha
The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.
~Buddha
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, butto live the present moment wisely and earnestly.
~Buddha
The tongue like a sharp knife... Kills without drawing blood.
~Buddha
The virtues, like the Muses, are always seen in groups. A good principle was never found solitary in any breast.
~Buddha
The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.
~Buddha
The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.
~Buddha
The wise ones fashioned speech with their thought, sifting it as grain is sifted through a sieve.
~Buddha
There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.
~Buddha
There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it.
~Buddha
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.
~Buddha
Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.
~Buddha
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
~Buddha
Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
~Buddha
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.
~Buddha
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.
~Buddha
To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
~Buddha
To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance.
~Buddha
Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two.
~Buddha
Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.
~Buddha
We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.
~Buddha
We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
~Buddha
We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.
~Buddha
What is the appropriate behavior 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?
~Buddha
What we think, we become.
~Buddha
Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.
~Buddha
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.
~Buddha
Without health life is not life; it is only a state of langour and suffering - an image of death.
~Buddha
Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.
~Buddha
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.
~Buddha
You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.
~Buddha
You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.
~Buddha
Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.
~Buddha
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
~Mahatma Gandhi
I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.
~Mahatma Gandhi
I want freedom for the full expression on my personality.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy.
~Mahatma Gandhi
It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Faith... Must be enforced by reason...When faith becomes blind it dies.
~Mahatma Gandhi
It is the duty of every cultured man or woman to read sympathetically the scriptures of the world. If we are to respect others' religions as we would have them respect our own, a friendly study of the world's religions is a sacred duty.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Be the change you want to see in the world.
~Mahatma Gandhi
All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family, and each one of us is responsible for the misdeeds of all the others. I cannot detach myself from the wickedest soul.
~Mahatma Gandhi
A weak man is just an accident. A strong but non-violent man is unjust by accident.
~Mahatma Gandhi
A 'NO' uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a 'YES' merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Adaptability is not imitation. It means power of resistance and assimilation.
~Mahatma Gandhi
I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.
~Mahatma Gandhi
My greatest weapon is mute prayer.
~Mahatma Gandhi
It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity.
~Mahatma Gandhi
If we wish to create a lasting peace we must begin with the children.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Non-violence which is a quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the brain.
~Mahatma Gandhi
When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.
~Mahatma Gandhi
In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.
~Mahatma Gandhi
No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive.
~Mahatma Gandhi
It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger and we will make not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large.
~Mahatma Gandhi
You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Honesty is incompatible with amassing a large fortune.
~Mahatma Gandhi
We must become the change we want to see in the world.
~Mahatma Gandhi
There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
Mahatma Gandhi
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
~Mahatma Gandhi
The history of the world is full of men who rose to leadership, by sheer force of self-confidence, bravery and tenacity.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Faith must be enforced by reason. When faith becomes blind it dies.
~Mahatma Gandhi
The Seven Deadly Sins are wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, business without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice and politics without principle.
~Mahatma Gandhi
My life is an indivisible whole, and all my attitudes run into one another; and they all have their rise in my insatiable love for mankind.
~Mahatma Gandhi
There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.
~Mahatma Gandhi
They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Those who know how to think need no teachers.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Truth never damages a cause that is just.
~Mahatma Gandhi
The sacrifice which causes sorrow to the doer of the sacrifice is no sacrifice. Real sacrifice lightens the mind of the doer and gives him a sense of peace and joy. The Buddha gave up the pleasures of life because they had become painful to him.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Justice will come when it is deserved by our being and feeling strong.
Mahatma Gandhi
I first learned the concepts of non-violence in my marriage.
~Mahatma Gandhi
I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love.
~Mahatma Gandhi
If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.
~Mahatma Gandhi
If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.
~Mahatma Gandhi
If we are to respect others' religions as we would have them to respect our own, a friendly study of the world's religion is a sacred duty.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Justice does not help those who slumber but helps only those who are vigilant.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived and done by unarmed nations in the face of odds.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Live as if your were to die tomorrow.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Men and women approaching retirement age should be recycled for public service work, and their companies should foot the bill. We can no longer afford to scrap-pile people.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Men say I am a saint losing himself in politics. The fact is that I am a politician trying my hardest to become a saint.
~Mahatma Gandhi
My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents and I lay them both at his feet.
~Mahatma Gandhi
It is open to a war resister to judge between the combatants and wish success to the one who has justice on his side. By so judging he is more likely to bring peace between the two than by remaining a mere spectator.
~Mahatma Gandhi
If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.
~Mahatma Gandhi
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
~Mahatma Gandhi
The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. He frees himself and shows the way to others. Freedom and slavery are mental states.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Non-violence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed.
~Mahatma Gandhi
In my humble opinion, non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.
~Mahatma Gandhi
That would be a good idea.
~Mahatma Gandhi
On being asked what he thought of modern civilization
Hatred can be overcome only by love.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Love never claims, it ever gives; love never suffers, never resents, never revenges itself. Where there is love there is life; hatred leads to destruction.
~Mahatma Gandhi
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
~Mahatma Gandhi
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
~Mahatma Gandhi
A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Love is the strongest force the world possesses, and yet it is the humblest imaginable.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
~Mahatma Gandhi
he weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
~Mahatma Gandhi
One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.
~Mahatma Gandhi
It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.
~Mahatma Gandhi
As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
~Mahatma Gandhi
Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.”
~Buddha
Everything of importance has been said before by somebody who did not discover it.
~Alfred North Whitehead (1861 - 1947)
I have suffered a great deal from writers who have quoted this or that sentence of mine either out of its context or in juxtaposition to some incongruous matter which quite distorted my meaning , or destroyed it altogether.
~Alfred North Whitehead (1861 - 1947)
The point of quotations is that one can use another's words to be insulting.
~Amanda Cross (1926 - )
Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another.
~Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
One must be a wise reader to quote wisely and well.
~Amos Bronson Alcott (1799 - 1888)
When a thing has been said and well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it.
~Anatole France (1844 - 1924)
Be careful -- with quotations, you can damn anything.
~Andre Malraux (1901 - 1976)
Write a wise saying and your name will live forever.
~Anonymous
It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims.
~Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)
The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation.
~Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
A quotation in a speech, article or book is like a rifle in the hands of an infantryman. It speaks with authority.
~Brendan Francis
To be amused by what you read--that is the great spring of happy quotations.
~C. E. Montague, "A Writer's Notes on His Trade"
I never have found the perfect quote. At best I have been able to find a string of quotations which merely circle the ineffable idea I seek to express.
Caldwell O'Keefe
I improve on misquotation.
~Cary Grant (1904 - 1986)
The American people would not want to know of any misquotes that Dan Quayle may or may not make.
~Dan Quayle (1947 - )
People will accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first.
~David H. Comins
What's the use of a good quotation if you can't change it?
~Doctor Who
A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought.
~Dorothy L. Sayers (1893 - 1957), Lord Peter Wimsey in "Gaudy Night"
I might repeat to myself slowly and soothingly, a list of quotations beautiful from minds profound - if I can remember any of the damn things.
~Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967)
Some for renown, on scraps of learning dote,
And think they grow immortal as they quote.
~Edward Young (1683 - 1765), Love of Fame (satire I, l. 89)
An epigram often flashes light into regions where reason shines but dimly.
~Edwin P. Whipple
If you have any doubts that we live in a society controlled by men, try reading down the index of contributors to a volume of quotations, looking for women's names.
~Elaine Gill
I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation.
~George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)
After all, all he did was string together a lot of old, well-known quotations.
~H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956), on Shakespeare
Misquotation is, in fact, the pride and privilege of the learned. A widely- read man never quotes accurately, for the rather obvious reason that he has read too widely.
~Hesketh Pearson, Common Misquotations (1934), Introduction
Misquotations are the only quotations that are never misquoted.
~Hesketh Pearson
Life itself is a quotation.
~Jorge Luis Borges (1899 - 1986)
A fine quotation is a diamond on the finger of a man of wit, and a pebble in the hand of a fool.
~Joseph Roux
What a good thing Adam had. When he said a good thing he knew nobody had said it before.
~Mark Twain (1835 - 1910), Notebooks (1935)
I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.
~Marlene Dietrich (1901 - 1992)
A thought is often original, though you have uttered it a hundred times.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809 - 1894), The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, 1858
Now we sit through Shakespeare in order to recognize the quotations.
~Orson Welles (1915 - 1985)
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.
~Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), De Profundis, 1905
Have you ever observed that we pay much more attention to a wise passage when it is quoted than when we read it in the original author?
~Philip G. Hamerton, "The Intellectual Life"
There is not less wit nor less invention in applying rightly a thought one finds in a book, than in being the first author of that thought.
~Pierre Bayle (1647 - 1706), Dictionairre Historique et Critique
Immortality. I notice that as soon as writers broach this question they begin to quote. I hate quotation. Tell me what you know.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882), Journal (May 1849)
Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882), Letters and Social Aims (Quotation and Originality)
The surest way to make a monkey of a man is to quote him.
~Robert Benchley (1889 - 1945)
A quotation, like a pun, should come unsought, and then be welcomed only for some propriety of felicity justifying the intrusion.
Robert Chapman
A book of quotations . . . can never be complete.
~Robert M. Hamilton
He wrapped himself in quotations- as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of Emperors.
~Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)
Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world.
~Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784), as quoted in Boswell's Life of Johnson (May 8th, 1781)
Every quotation contributes something to the stability or enlargement of the language.
~Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
What is an epigram? A dwarfish whole, its body brevity, and wit its soul.
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834)
I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good.
~Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD)
Famous remarks are very seldom quoted correctly.
~Simeon Strunsky (1879 - 1948), No Mean City (1944)
I am reminded of the professor who, in his declining hours, was asked by his devoted pupils for his final counsel. He replied, 'Verify your quotations.'
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965), quoted in Rudolf Flesch, ed., "The New Book of Unusual Quotations" (NY: ~Harper & Row, 1966), p. 311
It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations is an admirable work, and I studied it intently. The quotations when engraved upon the memory give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more.
~Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965), Roving Commission: My Early Life, 1930, Chapter 9
A short saying oft contains much wisdom.
~Sophocles (496 BC - 406 BC)
It is better to be quotable than to be honest.
~Tom Stoppard (1937 - )
A witty saying proves nothing.
~Voltaire (1694 - 1778)
She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.
~W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965)
The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages is preserved into perpetuity by a nation's proverbs, fables, folk sayings and quotations.
~William Feather (1908 - 1976)
I didn't really say everything I said.
~Yogi Berra (1925 - )
Start every day off with a smile and get it over with.
~W. C. Fields (1880 - 1946)
A book of quotations . . . can never be complete.
~Robert M. Hamilton
Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets and then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again.
~Rick Polito, Marin Independent Journal's TV listing for "The Wizard of Oz"
Traditions are group efforts to keep the unexpected from happening.
~Barbara Tober
I never feel that I have comprehended an emotion, or fully lived even the smallest events, until I have reflected upon it in my journal; my pen is my truest confidant, holding in check the passions and disappointments that I dare not share even with my beloved.
~Stephanie Barron, Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor, 1996
I would rather spend an hour among the notorious than two minutes with the dull.
~Stephanie Barron, Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor, 1996
When a quiet man is moved to passion, it seems the very earth will shake.
~Stephanie Barron, Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor, 1996
Even the wisest counsel is useless when it is unheeded.
~Stephanie Barron, Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor, 1996
Friends, in my experience, are like ladies’ fashions. They come and go with the seasons, and are rarely of such stout stuff as bears repeated wearing.
~Stephanie Barron, Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor, 1996
You don’t love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her.
~Anon
We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything. That is all.
~Buddha
It is the enemy who can truly teach us to practice the virtues of compassion and tolerance.
~Dalai Lama
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.
~Buddha
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.
~Buddha
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
~Buddha
If you don't find a teacher soon, you'll live this life in vain. It's true, you have the buddha-nature. But without the help of a teacher
you'll never know it. Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher's help.
If, though, by the conjunction of conditions, someone understands what the Buddha meant, that person doesn't need a teacher. Such a person has a natural awareness superior to anything taught. But unless you're so blessed, study hard, and by means of instruction you'll understand.
~Bodhidharma
You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.
~Buddha
The mind is everything. What you think you become.
~Buddha
Birth and Death is a grave event;
How transient is life!
Every minute is to be grasped.
Time waits for nobody.
~Inscription on a Zen Gong
You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.
~Buddha
Just as a mother would protect with her life her own son, her only son,
so one should cultivate an unbounded mind towards all beings, and loving-kindness towards all the world.
One should cultivate an unbounded mind, above and below and across, without obstruction, without enmity, without rivalry.
Standing, or going, or seated, or lying down, as long as one is free from drowsiness, one should practice this mindfulness.
This, they say, is the holy state here.
~Sutta Nipata
Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
~BuddhaThose who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.
~Buddha
To understand everything is to forgive everything
~Buddha
We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
~Buddha
The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.
~Buddha
Make an island of yourself,
make yourself your refuge;
there is no other refuge.
Make truth your island,
make truth your refuge;
there is no other refuge.
~Digha Nikaya, 16
You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself
~Buddha
A brahmin once asked The Blessed One:
"Are you a God?"
"No, brahmin" said The Blessed One.
"Are you a saint?"
"No, brahmin" said The Blessed One.
"Are you a magician?"
"No, brahmin" said The Blessed One.
"What are you then?"
"I am awake."
~Buddha
An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.
~Buddha
When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky
~Buddha
However many holy words you read,However many you speak,What good will they do you If you do not act on upon them?
~Buddha
The tongue like a sharp knife... Kills without drawing blood.
~Buddha
It is never too late.
Even if you are going to die tomorrow,
Keep yourself straight and clear and be a happy human being today.
If you keep your situation happy day by day,
you will eventually reach the greatest happiness of Enlightenment.
~Lama Yeshe
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
~Buddha
Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.
~Buddha
A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.
~Buddha
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.
~Buddha
The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.
~Buddha
Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little.
~Buddha
We could become quite satisfied with ourselves because we are sitting in meditation and are endeavoring to practice the spiritual path. Such satisfaction with ourselves is not the same as contentment. Contentment is necessary, self-satisfaction is detrimental. To be content has to include knowing we are in the right place at the right time to facilitate our own growth. But to be self-satisfied means that we no longer realize the need for growth. All these aspects are important parts of our commitment and makes us into one whole being with a one-pointed direction.
~Ayya Khema
Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.
~Buddha
The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.
~Buddha
Do not try to become anything.
Do not make yourself into anything.
Do not be a meditator.
Do not become enlightened.
When you sit, let it be.
What you walk, let it be.
Grasp at nothing.
Resist nothing.
~Ajhan Chah
No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
~Buddha
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.
~Buddha
Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.
~Buddha
What is this world condition?
Body is the world condition.
And with body and form goes feeling, perception, consciousness, and all the activities throughout the world.
The arising of form and the ceasing of form--everything that has been heard, sensed, and known, sought after and reached by the mind--all this is the embodied world, to be penetrated and realized.
~Samyutta Nikaya
Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.
~Buddha
What we think, we become.
~Buddha
Conquer the angry man by love.
Conquer the ill-natured man by goodness.
Conquer the miser with generosity.
Conquer the liar with truth.
~The Dhammapada
To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others
~Buddha
Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace
~Buddha
He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.
~Buddha
To keep the body in good health is a duty...otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
~Buddha
If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything. When a child presents himself to you with his smile, if you are not really there - thinking about the future or the past, or preoccupied with other problems - then the child is not really there for you. The technique of being alive is to go back to yourself in order for the child to appear like a marvellous reality. Then you can see him smile and you can embrace him in your arms.
~Thich Nhat Hanh
There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it.
~Buddha
Life is suffering.
~Buddha
Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law.
~Buddha
Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.
~Buddha
Do not pursue the past.
Do not lose yourself in the future.
The past no longer is.
The future has not yet come.
Looking deeply at life as it is.
In the very here and now, the practitioner dwells in stability and freedom.
We must be diligent today.
To wait until tomorrow is too late.
Death comes unexpectedly.
How can we bargain with it?
The sage calls a person who knows how to dwell in mindfulness night and day,
'one who knows the better way to live alone.'
~Bhaddekaratta Sutta
Every human being is the author of his own health or disease
~Buddha
The whole purpose of religion is to facilitate love and compassion, patience, tolerance, humility, forgiveness.
~Dalai Lama
Just as the highest and the lowest notes are equally inaudible, so perhaps, is the greatest sense and the greatest nonsense equally unintelligible.
~Allan Watts
Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.
~Sutta Nipata
I teach one thing and one only:
that is, suffering and the end of suffering.
~Buddha
One should follow a man of wisdom who rebukes one for one's faults, as one would follow a guide to some buried treasure.
To one who follows such a wise man, it will be an advantage and not a disadvantage.
~Dhammapada 76
In Aryans' Discipline, to build a friendship is to build wealth,
To maintain a friendship is to maintain wealth and
To end a friendship is to end wealth.
~Cakkavatti Sutta, Patika Vagga, Dighanikaya
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.
~Buddha
Renunciation is not getting rid of the things of this world, but accepting that they pass away.
~Aitken Roshi
Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much
as your own unguarded thoughts.
~Buddha
Develop the mind of equilibrium.
You will always be getting praise and blame,
but do not let either affect the poise of the mind:
follow the calmness, the absence of pride.
~Sutta Nipata
Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience.
It isn't more complicated that that.
It is opening to or recieving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is,
without either clinging to it or rejecting it.
~Sylvia Boorstein
The fool thinks he has won a battle when he bullies with harsh speech,
but knowing how to be forbearing alone makes one victorious.
~Samyutta Nikaya I, 163
Our inability to stand someone results from our lack of cultivation.
Having a wider heart and mind is more important than having a larger house.
Happiness does not come from having much, but from being attached to little.
~Venerable Cheng Yen
The greatest achievement is selflessness.
The greatest worth is self-mastery.
The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.
The greatest precept is continual awareness.
The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.
The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.
The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.
The greatest generosity is non-attachment.
The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.
The greatest patience is humility.
The greatest effort is not concerned with results.
The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.
The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.
~Atisha
The beauty of life is, while we cannot undo what is done,
we can see it, understand it, learn from it and change.
So that every new moment is spent not in regret, guilt, fear or anger,
but in wisdom, understanding and love.
~Jennifer Edwards
Humans prepare for the future all their lives, yet meet the next life totally unprepared.
~Drakpa Gyaltsen
To deny the reality of things is to miss their reality;
to assert the emptiness of things is to miss their reality.
The more you talk and think about it, the further astray you wander from the truth.
Stop talking and thinking and there is nothing you will not be able to know.
~Hsin Hsin Ming
When one does what Buddhas do, one is a Buddha.
When one does what Bodhisattvas do, one is a Bodhisattva.
When one does what Arhats do, one is an Arhat.
When one does what ghosts do, one is a ghost.
These are all natural phenomena.
There are no shortcuts in cultivation.
~Master Hsuan Hua
If you wish others to know about your good deeds,
they are not truly good deeds.
If you fear others will find out about your bad deeds,
those are truly bad deeds.
~Master Hsuan Hua
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile,
but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
~Thich Nhat Hanh
To be angry is to let others' mistakes punish yourself.
To forgive others is to be good to yourself.
~Master ChengYen
Whenever you hear that someone else has been successful, rejoice.
Always practice rejoicing for others--whether your friend or your enemy.
If you cannot practice rejoicing, no matter how long you live, you will not be happy.
~Lama Zopa Rinpoche
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