The Buddha Quotes

Better than a long speech is a single quietening word.

Do not say anything harsh: what you have said will be said back to you.

Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.

If a string has one end, it has another.

Letting go of our suffering is the hardest work we will ever do.

True charity occurs only when there are no notions of giving, giver, or gift.

Dispassion is the best of mental states. . . .

Peace comes from within; do not try to seek it without.

To share happiness, and to have done something good before leaving this life is sweet.

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.

Your suffering is my suffering and your happiness is my happiness.

If we destroy something around us we destroy ourselves. If we cheat another, we cheat ourselves.

When one feels no shame in telling a deliberate lie, there is no evil, I tell you, he will not do.

A fool acquires knowledge only to his own disadvantage. It destroys what good he has, and turns his brains.

A good horse runs with seeing just the shadow of the whip.

Comparing oneself to others in such terms as "Just as I am so are they, just as they are so am I," he should neither kill nor cause others to kill.

All compounded things are subject to decay. Strive with diligence!

O men! you can take life easily but, remember, none of you can give life! So, have mercy, have compassion! And, never forget, that compassion makes the world noble and beautiful.

Offensive acts come back upon the evil doer, like dust that is thrown against the wind.

Ye must leave righteous ways behind, not to speak of unrighteous ways.

When one is overcome by this wretched, clinging desire in the world, one's sorrows increase like grass growing up after a lot of rain.

There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it. To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance.

Meat is not agreeable to the wise: it has a nauseating odor, it causes a bad reputation, it is food for the carnivorous; I say this, Mahamati, it is not to be eaten.

Seeker, empty the boat, lighten the load, be free of craving and judgment and hatred, and feel the joy of the way.

He who harms living beings is, for that reason, not an ariya (a Noble One); he who does not harm any living being is called an ariya.

It is ignorance that smothers, and it is carelessness that makes it invisible. The hunger of craving pollutes the world, and the pain of suffering causes the greatest fear.

I do not perceive even one other thing, O monks, that when undeveloped and uncultivated entails such great suffering as the mind. The mind when undeveloped and uncultivated entails great suffering.

Life at home is cramped and dirty, it is difficult to live a spiritual life completely, perfect and pure in all its parts while cabinned.

How will you become free? With a quiet mind Come into that empty house, your heart, And feel the joy of the way Beyond the world. Look within - The rising and the falling.

As an elephant in the battlefield withstands arrows shot from bows all around, even so shall I endure abuse.

The glorious chariots of kings wear out, and the body wears out and grows old; but the virtue of the good never grows old.

Be greatly aware of the present.

The ocean, king of mountains and the mighty continents Are not heavy burdens to bear when compared To the burden of not repaying the world's kindness.

One is not a great one because one defeats or harms other living beings. One is so called because one refrains from defeating or harming other living beings.

That which goeth up must needs come down; and that which is down must needs go up. But Brahma has ordained that the that that goeth up is seldom the same as the that that hath gone down.

Sustaining a loving heart, even for a moment, makes one a spiritual being.

When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble.

Live every act fully, as if it were your last.

And so, with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings.

To know and not to use is not yet to know!

Let the wise guard their thoughts, which are difficult to perceive, extremely subtle, and wander at will. Thought which is well guarded is the bearer of happiness.

All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?

Birth is okay and death is okay, if we know that they are only concepts in our mind. Reality transcends both birth and death.

To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.

I know what I gave them; I don't know what they received.

The holy man is beyond time, he does not depend on any view nor subscribe to any sect; all current theories he understands, but he remains unattached to any of them.

Let us live in joy, never falling sick like those who hate us. Let us live in freedom, without hatred even among those who hate.

One way leads to acquisition, the other leads to nirvana. Realising this a monk should take no pleasure in the respect of others, but should devote himself to solitude.

The man who foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the protection of my most ungrudging love; and the more evil comes from him, the more good shall go from me.

If you endeavor to embrace the Way through much learning, the Way will not be understood. If you observe the Way with simplicity of heart, great indeed is this Way.