50+ Buddha Quotes to Inspire Peace, Mindfulness, and Enlightenment
- 7th century BC to 5th century BC
- Indian
- Religious leader, thinker
- Founded Buddhism, taught people the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, which showed the causes of suffering and how to resolve them, and spread the path of training aimed at inner liberation and enlightenment.
- “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
- “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.”
- “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”
- “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.”
- “Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.”
- “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”
- “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.”
- “Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.”
- “Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.”
- “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.”
- “Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two.”
- “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.”
- “Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.”
- “It is better to travel well than to arrive.”
- “The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.”
- “Without health life is not life; it is only a state of langour and suffering – an image of death.”
- “He who walks in the eightfold noble path with unswerving determination is sure to reach Nirvana.”
- “Better than worshiping gods is obedience to the laws of righteousness.”
- “Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.”
- “I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.”
- “Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.”
- “In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.”
- “Charity bestowed upon those who are worthy of it is like good seed sown on a good soil that yields an abundance of fruits. But alms given to those who are yet under the tyrannical yoke of the passions are like seed deposited in a bad soil. The passions of the receiver of the alms choke, as it were, the growth of merits.”
- “A jug fills drop by drop.”
- “I was born into the world as the king of truth for the salvation of the world.”
- “The foolish man conceives the idea of ‘self.’ The wise man sees there is no ground on which to build the idea of ‘self;’ thus, he has a right conception of the world and well concludes that all compounds amassed by sorrow will be dissolved again, but the truth will remain.”
- “He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.”
- “The wise ones fashioned speech with their thought, sifting it as grain is sifted through a sieve.”
- “The virtues, like the Muses, are always seen in groups. A good principle was never found solitary in any breast.”
- “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.”
- “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.”
- “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”
- “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.”
- “You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.”
- “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
- “To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”
- “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.”
- “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.”
- “The mind is everything. What you think you become.”
- “It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.”
- “Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.”
- “What we think, we become.”
- “Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.”
- “He who gives away shall have real gain. He who subdues himself shall be free; he shall cease to be a slave of passions. The righteous man casts off evil, and by rooting out lust, bitterness, and illusion do we reach Nirvana.”
- “To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.”
- “Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.”
- “The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.”
- “I am not the first Buddha who came upon Earth, nor shall I be the last. In due time, another Buddha will arise in the world – a Holy One, a supremely enlightened One, endowed with wisdom in conduct, auspicious, knowing the universe, an incomparable leader of men, a master of angels and mortals.”
- “With fools, there is no companionship. Rather than to live with men who are selfish, vain, quarrelsome, and obstinate, let a man walk alone.”
- “However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on them?”
- “A woman of the world is anxious to exhibit her form and shape, whether walking, standing, sitting, or sleeping. Even when represented as a picture, she desires to captivate with the charms of her beauty and, thus, to rob men of their steadfast heart.”
- “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.”
- “Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.”
- “All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?”
- “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?”
- “Let my skin and sinews and bones dry up, together with all the flesh and blood of my body! I welcome it! But I will not move from this spot until I have attained the supreme and final wisdom.”
- “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.”
- “Of those beings who live in ignorance, shut up and confined, as it were, in an egg, I have first broken the eggshell of ignorance and alone in the universe obtained the most exalted, universal Buddhahood.”