Best of Buddha (+310 quotes)

"Here, bhikkhus, some misguided people learn the Dhamma speeches, stanzas, expositions, verses, exclamations, sayings, birth stories, miracles, and answers to questions-but having learned the Dhamma, they do not examine the meaning of these teachings with wisdom. Since they do not examine the meaning of these teachings with wisdom, they cannot accept them reflectively. Instead, they learn the Dhamma only to criticize others and to win in debates, and they do not experience the good for the sake of which they learned the Dhamma."

Gautama Buddha

"THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

I. The suffering exists.

II. Suffering arises from "attachment" to desires.

III Suffering ceases when "attachment" to desires ceases.

IV. Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the eightfold path:

1. right understanding (view).
2. right intention (thought).
3. right speech.
4. right action.
5. right way of life.
6. right effort.
7. right mindfulness.
8. right meditation (concentration).

Buddha's fourfold consolation:

With a mind free from greed and unkindness, incorruptible and purified, the noble disciple is assured of a fourfold comfort even in his lifetime:
"If there is another world (heaven) and a cause and effect (karma) of good and bad actions, then when the body dissolves, after death, I may be reborn in a happy realm, a heavenly world." And if there is no other world, no reward and no punishment for good and bad deeds, then at least here, in this world, I live a carefree and happy life, free from hatred and unkindness." He is convinced of this second consolation.
"And if bad things happen to bad people, but I do not do bad things (or harbor unkindness toward anyone), how can I, who do not do bad things, be confronted with bad things?" He is convinced of this third consolation.
"And if bad things do not happen to bad people, then I know myself to be pure in both respects." Of this fourth consolation he is certain."

Gautama Buddha

"Ennui has produced more gamblers than avarice, more drunkards than thirst, and perhaps as many suicides as despair."

Gautama Buddha

"When one analyzes the selflessness of phenomena and cultivates this analysis, it causes one to attain nirvana. Through no other cause does one attain peace."

Gautama Buddha

"For your anger you are not punished, your anger is the punishment."

Gautama Buddha

"Live in joy, in love,
even among those who hate.

Live in joy, in health,
even among the afflicted.

Live in joy, in peace,
even among the restless.

Look within, be still.
Free from fear and attachment,
recognize the sweet joy of the way."

Gautama Buddha

"Thousands of candles can be lit on a single candle, and the life of the candle is not shortened. Happiness never diminishes when it is shared."

Gautama Buddha

"Like a flower that is lovely and beautiful but has no fragrance, so fruitless is the well-spoken word of one who does not practice it."

Gautama Buddha

"What we are today comes
from our thoughts of yesterday,
and build the thoughts of today
our lives tomorrow: our lives are the
Creation of our own mind"

Gautama Buddha

"As a lotus flower is born in the water, grows in the water, and rises from the water to stand immaculate above it, so I live, born in the world, grown up in the world, and having overcome the world, immaculate from the world."

Gautama Buddha

"Therefore, be lamps for yourselves, be a refuge for yourselves. Hold on to the truth as a lamp, hold on to the truth as a refuge. Do not seek refuge in anyone other than yourselves. And those who are a lamp to themselves will not seek an external refuge, but holding fast to the truth as their lamp and holding fast to the truth as their refuge, they will reach the highest height."

Gautama Buddha

"Bones are what the city is made of,
Plastered with flesh and blood,
Where decay and death are deposited,
And pride and ingratitude."

Gautama Buddha

"Control your mind or it will control you."

Gautama Buddha

"If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you wouldn't let a single meal go by without sharing it in some way. "

Gautama Buddha

"How glorious it is for one who has nothing. He who attains wisdom is a man with nothing. See him suffer, one who has something, a person who is connected in spirit with people."

Gautama Buddha

"From desire, sorrow is born; from desire, fear is born. For one who is liberated from desire, there is no sorrow - so how can there be fear?"

Gautama Buddha

"Not by rules of conduct and religious observances alone, nor by much learning, nor by attaining concentration, nor by sleeping alone, do I attain the happiness of freedom to which no worldling attains. If you have not put an end to compulsions, cultivate your faith."

Gautama Buddha

"Success is not the key to happiness.
Luck is the key to success."

Gautama Buddha

"Those that come forth from causes have not come forth. They have no inherent nature of generation. Those who depend on causes are called empty; those who know emptiness are conscious."

Gautama Buddha

"Opinion, O disciple, is a disease; opinion is a tumor; opinion is a wound. He who has overcome all opinions, O disciple, is called a saint, one who knows."

Gautama Buddha

"We are what we think. Everything we are comes into being through our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world."

Gautama Buddha

"Our theories of the eternal are as valuable as those which a chick that has not yet broken through its shell can make of the outside world."

Gautama Buddha

"All phenomena do not exist by nature because they are dependent phenomena. All phenomena do not exist by nature because they are dependent phenomena."

Gautama Buddha

"All injustice comes from the mind. When the mind is transformed, injustice can remain."

Gautama Buddha

"Meditate, Ānanda, do not hesitate, or you will regret it later. This is our instruction for you."

Gautama Buddha

"The darkest night is ignorance."

Gautama Buddha

"Your worst enemy can't hurt you as much as your own thoughts if you don't control them."

Gautama Buddha

"I regard the positions of kings and rulers as those of dust motes. I regard treasures of gold and precious stones as so many bricks
and pebbles. I see the finest silken garments as tattered rags. I see the innumerable worlds of the universe as small seeds of
fruits and the largest lake in India as a drop of oil at my foot. I recognize the teachings of the world as the illusion of the
Magician. I recognize the highest concept of emancipation as golden brocade in a dream and contemplate the sacred path of the
Enlightened as flowers that appear in his eyes. I see meditation as the pillar of a mountain and nirvana as the nightmare of the
Time of Day. I regard the judgment of right and wrong as the snake dance of a dragon and the rise and fall of beliefs
Than the marks left by the four seasons."

Gautama Buddha

"When the aggregates arise, pass away, and die, O Bhikkhu, you are born, pass away, and die every moment."

Gautama Buddha

"Analyzing through special insight and recognizing the lack of inherent existence constitute the understanding of the signless."

Gautama Buddha

"Those that arise in dependence are free from inherent existence."

Gautama Buddha

"You are like the yellow leaf.

The messengers of death are near.
You shall travel far away.
What will you take with you?

You are the lamp
To light the way.
Then hurry, hurry.

When your light shines
Without impurity and desire
you will enter the boundless land.

Your life passes.
Death is near.
Where will you rest along the way?
What did you take with you?

You are the lamp
To light the way.
Then hurry, hurry.

When your light shines pure
You are not born
And you're not going to die."

Gautama Buddha

"Monks, even if bandits were to cut you off limb by limb with a double-handled saw, the one of you who harbors evil intentions would not uphold my teaching. Monks, even in such a situation, you should train yourselves like this: Neither should our minds be influenced by it, nor should we utter evil words because of it, but we should remain full of concern and compassion, with a spirit of love, and we should not give ourselves over to hatred. On the contrary, we will project thoughts of universal love onto these people and make them and the whole world the object of our thoughts of universal love - thoughts that have become great, sublime and immoderate. We will dwell and radiate these thoughts that are free from hostility and ill will.' In this way, monks, you should practice."

Gautama Buddha

"Greater than all joys
of heaven and earth,
greater even than the dominion
over all worlds,
Is the joy of reaching the stream."

Gautama Buddha

"Don't give in to carelessness,
Don't give in to sensual pleasure,
Alert and immersed in meditation
you achieve abundant happiness."

Gautama Buddha

"If you cannot find a good companion to go with, go alone, like an elephant in the jungle. It is better to be alone than to be with those who hinder your progress."

Gautama Buddha

"Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine."

Gautama Buddha

"Your actions are your only possession."

Gautama Buddha

"This is how we contemplate our conditional existence in this fleeting world:

Gautama Buddha

Like a tiny dewdrop or a bubble floating in a stream,
like lightning in a summer cloud,
or a flickering lamp, an illusion, a phantom or a dream.

Gautama Buddha

This is how all conditional existence is to be seen."

Gautama Buddha

"He needs no faith who knows the uncreated, who has cut off rebirth, who has annihilated every possibility of good or evil and discarded every desire. He is indeed the supreme man."

Gautama Buddha

"The rain could turn to gold and still your thirst would not be quenched. Desire is unquenchable or it ends in tears, even in heaven."

Gautama Buddha

"So, friend, purification of virtue is for the sake of purification of mind; purification of mind is for the sake of purification of vision; purification of vision is for the sake of purification through overcoming doubt; purification through overcoming doubt is for the sake of purification through knowledge and vision of what is the path and what is not the path. Purification through knowledge and vision about what is the path and what is not the path is for the sake of purification through knowledge and vision of the path; purification through knowledge and vision of the path is for the sake of purification through knowledge and vision; purification through knowledge and vision is for the sake of attaining final Nibbāna [Nirvana] without attachment. For the sake of final Nibbāna [Nirvana] without attachment, the holy life is lived among the Blessed One."

Gautama Buddha

"Like a caring mother
life
of their only child holds and protects,
so hold with a boundless heart
of loving kindness,
themselves and all beings
As your beloved children."

Gautama Buddha

"Love yourself and wake up - today, tomorrow and always."

Gautama Buddha

"This is what I tell you: Decay is contained in all conditioned things. Work diligently for your own salvation."

Gautama Buddha

"Everything we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become."

Gautama Buddha

"Keeping the body in good health is a duty...otherwise we will not be able to keep our minds strong and clear."

Gautama Buddha

"The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground."

Gautama Buddha

"When the spirit is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never fades."

Gautama Buddha

"I do not believe in a fate that befalls people no matter how they act; but I do believe in a fate that befalls them if they do not act.
Don't dwell on the past, don't dream about the future, focus the mind on the present moment.
The way is not in heaven. The way is in the heart."

Gautama Buddha

"In order to live a pure, selfless life, one must not consider anything as one's own in the midst of abundance."

Gautama Buddha

"The less you have, the less you have to worry about."

Gautama Buddha

"Bhikkus, everything is burning. And what is all that burns?

Gautama Buddha

The eye burns, visible forms burn, eye consciousness burns, eye contact burns; also everything that is perceived as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant and arises with eye contact as a condition burns. By what does it burn? It burns with the fire of greed, with the fire of hatred, with the fire of delusion, with birth, aging and death, with sorrow, with lamentation, with pain, grief and despair."

Gautama Buddha

"A fool suffers and thinks,
I have children! I have wealth!
One's self is not even one's own.
What are children like then? Then how can wealth be?"

Gautama Buddha

"Emotions arise from desire and are therefore an illusion."

Gautama Buddha

"All beings tremble with violence.
Everyone fears death.
All love life.

Gautama Buddha

See yourself in others.
Then who can you hurt?
What damage can you do?"

Gautama Buddha

“Anger is the punishment we give ourselves for someone else’s mistake.”

Gautama Buddha

"We live in the illusion and appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand that, you see that you are nothing, and because you are nothing, you are everything. That's everything."

Gautama Buddha

"You cannot walk the path until you become the path itself".

Gautama Buddha

"Our lives are shaped by our minds, because we become what we think."

Gautama Buddha

"Many don't realize that
we must die here
For those who realize that
, the disputes end."

Gautama Buddha

"Pure-bred, white-covered, single-wheeled, the chariot rolls on. Behold him who comes: spotless, downstream, fetterless he is."

Gautama Buddha

"To live in the awareness of the inevitability of suffering, debilitation, old age and death is impossible - we must free ourselves from life, from all possible life."

Gautama Buddha

"When a person has faith, Bhāradvāja, he preserves the truth when he says, 'My faith is like this'; but he does not yet conclude, 'Only this is true, everything else is false.' In this way, Bhāradvāja, there is the preservation of truth; in this way he preserves truth; in this way we describe the preservation of truth. But as yet there is no discovery of truth."

Gautama Buddha

"Through the round of many births I wandered without reward, without rest, in search of the house builder.

Painful is the birth again & again.

House builder, you are seen!
You're not going to build a house anymore.
All your rafters are broken,
the ridge post destroyed,
the spirit has gone to the unformed,
the spirit has come to the end of desire."

Gautama Buddha

"Jīvaka, I say that there are three cases in which meat should not be eaten: when one sees, hears, or suspects [that the living being was slaughtered for itself]. I say that meat should not be eaten in these three cases. I say that there are three cases in which meat may be eaten: when it is not seen, not heard, and not suspected [that the living being was slaughtered for itself]. I say that meat may be eaten in these three cases."

Gautama Buddha

"It is your path... and yours alone... Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you. Whatever path you choose, walk it truly."

Gautama Buddha

"Suppose a man throws a yoke with a hole in it into the sea, and the east wind carries it to the west, and the west wind carries it to the east, and the north wind carries it to the south, and the south wind carries it to the north. Imagine if there were a blind turtle that appeared once at the end of each century. What do you think, bhikkhus? Would this blind turtle put its neck into the yoke with the one hole?"
Perhaps, venerable sir, sometime at the end of a long period.

Gautama Buddha

"Bhikkhus, the blind tortoise would rather put its neck into this yoke with a single hole in it than a fool who has once gone to ruin to regain the human state, I say. Why is that? Because there is no Dhamma practice there, no practice of the righteous, no doing of the wholesome, no performance of merit. There is mutual devouring and the slaughter of the weak." - Gautama Buddha, The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya

Gautama Buddha

"In life we cannot avoid change, we cannot avoid loss. Freedom and happiness lie in the flexibility and ease with which we move through change."

Gautama Buddha

"Indeed, one is one's own protector.
In fact, you make your own destiny.
Therefore control yourself
Like a merchant a good horse."

Gautama Buddha

"Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the labyrinth of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue."

Gautama Buddha

"It is better to live alone; there is no fellowship with a fool. Live alone and do no evil; be carefree like an elephant in the elephant forest."

Gautama Buddha

"You don't gain the beauty of a flower by plucking off its petals."

Gautama Buddha

""I will live here in the rain,
there in winter,
elsewhere in the summer, muses the fool,
not knowing the nearness of death."

Gautama Buddha

"Be your own lamp."

Gautama Buddha

"For behold, your body -
A painted doll, a toy,
Tied up, sick and full of false
Performances,
A shadow that shifts and fades."

Gautama Buddha

"All too soon this body
lie on the floor,
thrown aside, deprived of consciousness,
Like a useless piece of wood."

Gautama Buddha

"Ambition is like love, impatient both with delays and with rivals"

Gautama Buddha

"Virtuous people always let go.
They do not chatter about pleasures and desires.
Touched by happiness and then by sorrow,
the sage shows no signs of elation or depression."

Gautama Buddha

"Wonderful are the woods
Where the audience is not pleased.
There the dispassionate joy,
Not seeking sensual pleasure."

Gautama Buddha

"Sensual desire gives rise to sorrow;
Sensual desire gives rise to fear.
For someone who is liberated from sensual desire,
there is no sorrow;
And where would fear come from?"

Gautama Buddha

"Fearless, free from desire, and without blemish,
reached the goal
and destroys the arrows of becoming
one is in one's final body."

Gautama Buddha

"Those who do not know contentment are not content even if they live in a heavenly palace. Those who do not know contentment, even if they are rich, are poor. Those who know contentment even if they are poor are rich."

Gautama Buddha

"Just as on a heap of garbage swept together on a main road a pure-smelling, glorious lotus flower springs up, so in the midst of these heaps of garbage (people) the Savaka of the Perfectly Enlightened One outshines the blind Puthujjana in insight"

Gautama Buddha

"Just as a line drawn on water with a stick quickly disappears and does not last long, human life is like a line drawn on water. It is short, limited and brief; it is full of suffering, full of tribulation. This should be wisely understood, one should do good and live a pure life; for no one who is born can escape death."

Gautama Buddha

"Those who envy others do not attain inner peace."

Gautama Buddha