Best of Buddha (+310 quotes)
Are you looking for a quote from Gautama Buddha? You will surely find it here.
We have collected all these quotes for you. Below you will find additional content (images, short clips and even articles where we look at the hidden meaning behind the Buddhist quote.
Note: We have chosen Gautama Buddha, but other common names are Siddhārtha Gautama, Siddhattha Gotama; Shakyamuni, Sakkamuni; or The Buddha.
Gautama Buddha was an ascetic and spiritual teacher from South Asia who lived from 563 to 483 BC. He was the founder of Buddhism and is revered by Buddhists as a fully enlightened being who taught a path to nirvana (literally: disappearance or extinction), freedom from ignorance, desire, rebirth and suffering.
"No matter how many holy words you read, no matter how many you speak, what good are they if you do not act on them?"
Gautama Buddha
“Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.“
Gautama Buddha
"There is nothing more terrible than the habit of doubt. Doubt divides people. It is a poison that corrodes friendships and breaks pleasant relationships. It is a sting that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills."
Gautama Buddha
"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one must. We ourselves must go the way."
Gautama Buddha
"Everything we are is the result of what we have thought: It is based on our thoughts and made of our thoughts. When a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, suffering follows him like the wheel follows the hoof of the beast that pulls the cart.... If a man speaks or acts with a good thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him."
Gautama Buddha
Did you know...
In the early days of Buddhism, people did not have statues of the Buddha. They used symbols such as a footprint, an empty chair, a stray horse or an umbrella to represent him. The first images of the Buddha were made in the 5th century BC in the regions of Gandhara (now Kandahar in Afghanistan) and Mathura. At that time, people began to make statues and busts of the Buddha, and many of them had mustaches. Contrary to what you probably have in your head and see in the picture next to it.
"Peace comes from within. Don't look for it outside."
Gautama Buddha
"Three things cannot hide for long: the moon, the sun and the truth."
Gautama Buddha
"Do not believe in something just because you have heard it. Do not believe in something just because it is said and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything just because it is written in your religious books. Don't believe in anything just because your teachers and elders say so. Do not believe in traditions just because they have been handed down for many generations. But if, after observation and analysis, you find that something is consistent with reason and serves the good and benefit of all, then accept it and live by it."
Gautama Buddha
Did you know...
One story says that shortly before his death, the Buddha silently twirled a lotus flower in his hand before the assembled monks on Vulture Mountain. All the monks were dumbfounded, except for Mahakashyapa, who smiled at this, expressing the quality of his inner vision. Then the Buddha declared that all his wisdom and mind had now passed to Mahakashyapa. Thus the wheel (dharma) of the Buddha's teaching was set in motion and Mahakashyapa became one of the subsequent Buddhist patriarchs. This story is the founding myth of Zen Buddhism.
“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.”
Gautama Buddha
"Doubt everything. Find your own light."
Gautama Buddha
"Your goal in life is to find your purpose and give it your whole heart and soul."
Gautama Buddha
"Let us stand up and be thankful, for though we have not learned much, at least we have learned a little, and though we have not learned much, at least we have not become sick, and though we have become sick, at least we have not died; so let us all be thankful."
Gautama Buddha
"Every morning we are born anew. What we do today is the most important thing."
Gautama Buddha
This quote does not have its own article yet, but there is a very similar stoic quote that we have already written about:
"Look at every single day as a single life." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca
"There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path."
Gautama Buddha
"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who said it, no matter if I said it, unless it agrees with your own mind and reason."
Gautama Buddha
"If you truly love yourself, you could never hurt another."
Gautama Buddha
"A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving, and fearless, he is called wise in truth."
Gautama Buddha
"You are not punished for your anger; you are punished by your anger."
Gautama Buddha
“Conquer the angry one by not getting angry; conquer the wicked by goodness; conquer the stingy by generosity, and the liar by speaking the truth.”
Gautama Buddha
"Now, Kalamas, do not go by reports, legends, traditions, scriptures, logical conjectures, inferences, analogies, matches by pondering glances, probabilities, or by thinking, 'This contemplative is our teacher.' If you know for yourself: 'These qualities are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are praised by the sages; these qualities, if adopted & performed, lead to well-being & bliss' - then you should enter & dwell in them."
Gautama Buddha
[Kalama Sutta, AN 3.65.]
"Greater in battle
Gautama Buddha
as the man who
would defeat a thousand men,
is the one who
would defeat only one -
itself.
It is better to yourself
to defeat than others.
When you've trained yourself,
you live in constant self-control,
neither a deva nor a gandhabba can,
nor a Mara allied with Brahmas,
this triumph
back into defeat."
"It is like a lighted torch whose flame can be distributed to many other torches that people bring; and with it they will cook food and dispel darkness, while the original torch itself always burns the same. So it is with the bliss of the Way."
Gautama Buddha
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
Gautama Buddha
"A disingenuous and wicked friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but a wicked friend will wound your spirit."
Gautama Buddha
"If we could see clearly the miracle of a single flower, our whole lives would change."
Gautama Buddha
"Seek no sanctuary in anyone but yourself."
Gautama Buddha
"Whatever a monk pursues with his thinking and brooding, that becomes the tendency of his consciousness."
Gautama Buddha
"Meditate.
Gautama Buddha
Live purely. Be still.
Do your work with mastery.
Like the moon, come out
from the clouds!
Radiance"
"Words are not very good at expressing thoughts; everything immediately becomes a little different, a little distorted, a little silly. And yet it pleases me and seems right to me that what is valuable and wise to one person seems nonsense to another."
Gautama Buddha
"Nothing can hurt you as much as your own thoughts unguarded."
Gautama Buddha
"These... things, householder, are welcome, pleasant, pleasing, & difficult to achieve in the world:
Gautama Buddha
Long life is welcome, pleasant, enjoyable, & hard to achieve in the world.
Beauty is welcome, pleasant, enjoyable, & hard to achieve in the world.
Happiness is welcome, pleasant, enjoyable, & hard to obtain in the world.
Status is welcome, pleasant, gratifying, & difficult to obtain in the world.
...Well, I tell you, these... things are not obtainable through prayers or desires. If they could be obtained through prayers or wishes, who would miss them? For the disciple of the noble ones who wishes for a long life, it is not appropriate to pray for it or enjoy it. Instead, the disciple of the noble ones who desires a long life should follow the path of practice that leads to a long life. In this way, he will attain a long life..."
[Ittha Sutta, AN 5.43.]
"There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed."
Gautama Buddha
"Nothing ever exists entirely on its own; everything is related to everything else."
Gautama Buddha
"Hate does not cease through hate, but only through love; that is the eternal rule."
Gautama Buddha
"True love is born of understanding."
Gautama Buddha
"Nothing is forever except change."
Gautama Buddha
"The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There is only one moment in which you can live, and that is the present moment."
Gautama Buddha
"The tongue is like a sharp knife... It kills without spilling blood."
Gautama Buddha
"When you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise, you will miss most of your life."
Gautama Buddha
"As the rain falls equally on the just and the unjust, so do not burden your heart with judgments, but let your goodness rain equally on all."
Gautama Buddha
"With our thoughts we make the world."
Gautama Buddha
"Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be filled with joy."
Gautama Buddha
"Attachment leads to suffering."
Gautama Buddha
"Through countless births in the cycle of being.
Gautama Buddha
I walked without finding
although I was looking for the builder of this house;
and again and again I faced the suffering of the new birth.
Oh home builder! Now you are seen.
"A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things that renew humanity."
Gautama Buddha
"Long is the night for him who is awake; long is a mile for him who is weary; long is life for the foolish who knows not the true law."
Gautama Buddha
"In heaven, there is no distinction between East and West; people create distinctions from their own minds and then hold them to be true."
Gautama Buddha
"If we don't take care of others when they need help, who will take care of us?"
Gautama Buddha
"Those who do not work toward the truth have missed the meaning of life."
Gautama Buddha
"Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so the wise are not shaken by either praise or blame."
Gautama Buddha
"Our lives are shaped by our minds; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought like the wheels of a cart follow the ox that pulls it.
Gautama Buddha
Our lives are shaped by our minds; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves."
"Praise and blame, gain and loss, joy and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a giant tree in the midst of them."
Gautama Buddha
"It is one's own mind, not the enemy or the foe, that lures man into evil ways."
Gautama Buddha
"A man asked Gautama Buddha, "I want happiness."
Gautama Buddha
Buddha said, "First remove the "I," which is the ego, then remove the "want," which is desire.
See that you only get "lucky" now."
"Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to others."
Gautama Buddha
"You are now the community. Be a light unto yourselves. Be your own refuge. Do not look for anyone else. All things must pass away. Strive on diligently. Do not give up."
Gautama Buddha
"The way is not in heaven; the way is in the heart."
Gautama Buddha
"In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of the things that weren't meant for you."
Gautama Buddha
"What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, insulting is evil, gossiping is evil, envying is evil, hating is evil, holding false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil."
Gautama Buddha
"There are only two mistakes you can make on the road to truth: not going all the way and not starting."
Gautama Buddha
Did you know...
When he was 16, he married the princess Yasodhara. They lived in a palace where they had everything they needed. But even though he had all these things, he was not happy.
"May all who have life be freed from suffering".
Gautama Buddha
"He who has defeated himself is a far greater hero than he who has defeated a thousand times a thousand men."
Gautama Buddha
"He who knows that life flows feels no wear and tear, needs no repair."
Gautama Buddha
"When you light a lamp for someone, it lights your way, too."
Gautama Buddha
"You throw thorns, when they fall into my silence, they become flowers."
Gautama Buddha
"When you realize how perfect everything is, you will put your head back and smile at the sky"
Gautama Buddha
"A family is a place where minds come into contact with each other. When these minds love each other, the house will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But when those minds no longer harmonize with each other, it is like a storm that ravages the garden."
Gautama Buddha
"Becoming a vegetarian means walking toward the stream that leads to nirvana."
Gautama Buddha
"Forcing yourself to believe and accept a thing without understanding it is political, not spiritual or intellectual."
Gautama Buddha
"Wear your ego like a loose-fitting garment."
Gautama Buddha
"Kindness should be the natural way of life, not the exception."
Gautama Buddha
"Friendship is the only cure for hatred, the only guarantee for peace."
Gautama Buddha
"What you are is what you have been. What you will be is what you are doing now."
Gautama Buddha
"Speak the truth, do not become angry, and give when asked, even a little. Through these three conditions, you enter the presence of the gods."
Gautama Buddha
"Don't dwell on the past, don't dream about the future, focus the mind on the present moment."
Gautama Buddha
"If you come across a path,
Gautama Buddha
which benefits all
and brings luck,
follow this path
like the moon
wanders through the stars."
"In separateness lies the world's greatest misery; in compassion lies the world's true strength."
Gautama Buddha
"People with opinions get on each other's nerves."
Gautama Buddha
"If a traveler meets no one better than or equal to him, let him hold firmly to his solitary journey; there is no companionship with a fool."
Gautama Buddha
"Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, fidelity the best relationship. "
Gautama Buddha
"Able is he who thinks he is able."
Gautama Buddha
"Life is a river that is always flowing. Don't hold on to things. Work hard."
Gautama Buddha
"Remembering a wrong is like carrying a burden on your mind."
Gautama Buddha
"Those who try to defeat hatred through hatred are like warriors who take weapons to defeat others who carry weapons. This does not end hatred, but gives it room to grow. But ancient wisdom has recommended another timeless strategy for overcoming hatred. This eternal wisdom is to counter hate with non-hate. The method of defeating hatred through hatred never leads to overcoming hatred. But the method of overcoming hatred through non-hate is eternally effective. That is why this method is called eternal wisdom. "
Gautama Buddha
"There is not enough darkness in the whole world to extinguish the light of a small candle."
Gautama Buddha
"A man traveling across a field met a tiger. He fled and the tiger chased him. When he came to a precipice, he held onto the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down, where far below another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine kept him upright.
Gautama Buddha
Two mice, one white and one black, gradually began to gnaw the vine. The man saw a juicy strawberry near him. He held onto the vine with one hand and picked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted! "
"There are no chains like hatred... When you deal with your brother's mistakes, you multiply your own. You are far from the end of your path."
Gautama Buddha
"Be a lamp unto yourself. Work diligently for your liberation."
Gautama Buddha
"If you can't find someone to support you on the spiritual path, go alone. There is no communion with the immature."
Gautama Buddha
"The greatest prayer is patience."
Gautama Buddha
"There is nothing more disobedient than an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing more obedient than a disciplined mind."
Gautama Buddha
- Gautama Buddha
"More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an undisciplined mind does greater harm."
Gautama Buddha
"Be where you are or you'll miss your life."
Gautama Buddha
"There must be evil so that good can prove its purity over it."
Gautama Buddha
"Anger will never disappear as long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind."
Gautama Buddha
"Most problems, if you give them enough time and space, will eventually take care of themselves"
Gautama Buddha
"A moment can change a day, a day can change a life, and a life can change the world"
Gautama Buddha
"To insist on a spiritual practice that has served you in the past is to carry the raft on your back after you have crossed the river."
Gautama Buddha
"It is better to travel than to arrive".
Gautama Buddha
Did you know...
That Siddhartha, born in 563 BC, left the supposedly carefree life he had led in the palace at the age of 29. That was shortly after his only son Rahula was born.
"What you think, you become.
Gautama Buddha
What you feel, you attract.
What you imagine, you create."
"Be vigilant; guard your mind against negative thoughts."
Gautama Buddha
"Imagine that everyone in the world is enlightened except you. They are all your teachers, doing just the right thing to help you learn perfect patience, perfect wisdom, and perfect compassion."
Gautama Buddha
"Be very aware of the present."
Gautama Buddha
"All things appear and disappear through the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists all by itself; everything is related to everything else."
Gautama Buddha
"All descriptions of reality are provisional hypotheses."
Gautama Buddha
"How wonderful! How wonderful! All things are perfect just as they are."
Gautama Buddha
"Learn this from water: loudly ripples the brook, but the depths of the ocean are calm."
Gautama Buddha
"Happiness doesn't depend on what you have or who you are, it depends solely on what you think."
Gautama Buddha
"The forest is a special organism of unlimited goodness and benevolence, which makes no demands on its sustenance and generously distributes the products of its vital activity; it provides shelter for all beings and shade even for the axeman who destroys it."
Gautama Buddha
"The gift of truth trumps all other gifts."
Gautama Buddha
"Do not look at the faults of others, nor at their omissions and misdeeds. But look to your own deeds, to what you have done and omitted."
Gautama Buddha
"I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done."
Gautama Buddha
"Through countless births in the cycle of being.
Gautama Buddha
I walked without finding
although I was looking for the builder of this house;
and again and again I faced the suffering of the new birth.
Oh home builder! Now you are seen.
You shall build no more house for me.
All your beams are broken,
the ridge post is shattered.
The mind has become free from conditioning:
the end of desire has been reached."
"If you like a flower, you just pick it.
Gautama Buddha
But if you love a flower, you have to water it every day."
"The non-doing of something evil,
Gautama Buddha
the performance of something skillful,
the purification of one's own spirit:
that is the teaching of the Awakened One. "
"Even if you live a hundred years without wisdom and mastery, the life of a single day is better if you are wise and meditative."
Gautama Buddha
"Vigilance is the way to life.
The fool sleeps
Gautama Buddha
As if he were already dead,
But the master is awake
And he lives forever.
He watches.
He is clear.
How happy he is!
Because he sees that being awake is life.
How happy he is,
Who follows the path of the awakened one.
With great perseverance
Gautama Buddha
he meditates, seeks
Freedom and happiness. "
For the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world."
Gautama Buddha
"Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world."
Gautama Buddha
"Don't hug anything:
Gautama Buddha
When you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha.
When you meet your father, kill your father.
Live your life only as it is,
not tied to anything."
"The mind is everything. What you think, you become"
Gautama Buddha
"There are only a few people who cross over to the other shore. The others are just running up and down the shore on this side."
Gautama Buddha
"Generosity makes us happy at every stage of its expression. We experience joy when we develop the intention to be generous. We experience joy when we actually give. And we experience joy when we remember the fact that we have given."
Gautama Buddha
"He who loves 50 people has 50 sorrows; he who loves no one has no sorrows."
Gautama Buddha
"The ignorant man is an ox. He grows in stature, not in wisdom."
Gautama Buddha
"Do not overlook tiny good deeds because you think they are of no use; even tiny drops of water end up filling a huge vessel.
Gautama Buddha
Don't overlook negative deeds just because they are small; however small a spark may be, it can burn down a haystack as big as a mountain."
"Idleness is a short road to death, but diligence is a road to life; foolish men are idle, wise men are diligent. "
Gautama Buddha
"The lesson is simple. Do what is right. Be pure."
Gautama Buddha
"Wake up. Be the witness of your thoughts. You are what you observe, not what you observe."
Gautama Buddha
"The only real failure in life is not being true to the best you know."
Gautama Buddha
"From a withered tree, a flower blossoms".
Gautama Buddha
"Victory breeds hatred. The defeated live in pain. Happy live the peaceful,
Gautama Buddha
Who renounce victory and defeat."
"Work on your own salvation. Do not rely on others."
Gautama Buddha
"He who sees me sees the teaching, and he who sees the teaching sees me."
Gautama Buddha
"The virtuous man rejoices in this world and he rejoices in the next".
Gautama Buddha
"If you're looking in the right direction, all you have to do is keep going."
Gautama Buddha
"Practice with determination to attain peace."
Gautama Buddha
"The wise man makes of himself an island that no flood can overwhelm."
Gautama Buddha
"Just saying 'I believe' or 'I don't doubt' does not mean understanding and seeing. Forcing yourself to see and accept a thing without understanding it is political, not spiritual or intellectual."
Gautama Buddha
"Yes, Kālāmas, it is right that you have doubts, that you are confused, because a doubt has arisen in a matter that is doubtful. Now, you see Kālāmas, do not be guided by reports, traditions or hearsay. Do not be guided by the authority of religious texts, do not be guided by the pleasure of speculative opinions, do not be guided by apparent possibilities, do not be guided by the idea, "This is our teacher." But, O Kālāmas, if you yourself know that certain things are unwholesome, wrong, and bad, give them up... And if you yourself know that certain things are wholesome and good, accept them and follow them."
Gautama Buddha
"Know well what moves you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom."
Gautama Buddha
"Following the Noble Path is like entering a dark room with a light in your hand; the darkness will dissipate and the room will be filled with light."
Gautama Buddha
"Contentment is the greatest wealth"
Gautama Buddha
"Those who consider the unessential to be essential
And consider the essential as non-essential
Do not reach the essentials,
Living in the field of false intention"Gautama Buddha
"In this world
Hate has never driven out hate
Only love drives out hate
This is the law
Ancient and inexhaustible
You will pass away
If they know that, how can they argue?"Gautama Buddha
"Don't give your attention to what others do or fail to do; give it to what you do or fail to do."
Gautama Buddha
"It is a man's own spirit, not his enemy or foe, that leads him down evil paths."
Gautama Buddha
"Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds some kind of blessing. The goal is to find it."
Gautama Buddha
"Subhuti, someone could fill countless worlds with the seven treasures and give it all away in the form of alms, but if a good man or woman awakens the thought of enlightenment and takes even four lines from this speech, recites them, uses them, receives them, preserves them and spreads them, and explains them for the benefit of others, that will be far more meritorious. In what way can he explain it to others? By detaching himself from the externals and persisting in the real truth. -So I say to you:
This is how you should think about this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,
a flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
a flickering lamp, a ghost and a dream.
When the Buddha finished this discourse, Venerable Subhuti, together with the bhikshus, bhikshunis, lay brothers and sisters, and the whole realm of gods, men, and titans, were filled with joy by his teaching, and they sincerely took it to heart and went their ways."Gautama Buddha
EN 
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