Gautama Buddha Quotes

Like a mother who protects her child, her only child, with her own life, one should cultivate a heart of unlimited love and compassion towards all living beings.

He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.

Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little.

A virtuous man or woman who is determined to develop the Supreme Enlightened Mind, should thus develop it: I have to lead all living beings to put a stop to (reincarnation) and escape (suffering), and when they have been so led, not one of them in fact stops (reincarnating) or escapes suffering. Why? Because, if a Bodhisattva believes in the notion of an ego, a personality, or a living being, he is not a true Bodhisattva.

And he who lives a hundred years, idle and weak, a life of one day is better if a man has attained firm strength.

Surely if living creatures saw the results of all their evil deeds, they would turn away from them in disgust. But selfhood blinds them, and they cling to their obnoxious desires. They crave pleasure for themselves and they cause pain to others; when death destroys their individuality, they find no peace; their thirst for existence abides and their selfhood reappears in new births. Thus they continue to move in the coil and can find no escape from the hell of their own making.

Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be filled with joy.

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.

Why are you so sure parallel lines exist? Believe nothing, merely because you have been told it, or because it is traditional, or because you have imagined it.

Let all-embracing thoughts for all beings be yours.

Before giving, the mind of the giver is happy; while giving, the mind of the giver is made peaceful; and having given, the mind of the giver is uplifted.

Therefore, be islands unto yourselves. Be your own refuge. Have recourse to none else for refuge. Hold fast to the Dharma as a refuge. Resort to no other refuge. Whosoever, either now or after I am gone, shall be islands unto themselves, shall seek no eternal refuge, it is they, among my disciples who shall reach the very topmost height! But they must be keen to progress.

A jug fills drop by drop.

To have much learning, to be skillful in handicraft, well-trained in discipline, and to be of good speech -- this is the greatest blessing.

Reverence, humility, contentment, gratitude and hearing the good Dhamma, this is the best good luck.

Cut down the forest, not just a tree. Out of the forest of desire springs danger. By cutting down both the forest of desire and the brushwood of longing, be rid of the forest, bhikkhus.

Be it known that Men of dull faculties and slight wisdom, They who cling proudly to signs, Cannot believe in this Dharma. Now I, joyfully and fearlessly, In the midst of the bodhisattvas Frankly casting aside my expedient devices, Merely preach the Unexcelled Path.

When one drives away the negligent through vigilance, he climbs the heights of wisdom, and can see the suffering masses. Serene, you look upon the lost like one that stands on a mountain sees those that stand upon the plain.

Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine.

Pay no attention to the faults of others, things done or left undone by others. Consider only what by oneself is done or left undone.

Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.

A man should first direct himself in the way he should go. Only then should he instruct others.

Love yourself and be awake- Today, tomorrow, always. First establish yourself in the way, Then teach others, And so defeat sorrow. To straighten the crooked You must first do a harder thing- Straighten yourself. You are your only master. Who else? Subdue yourself, And discover your master.

Those who act with few desires are calm, without worry or fear.

These are the roots of trees, O monks, these are empty huts. Meditate, monks, do not be negligent, or else you will regret it later. This is our instruction to you.

One moment, ten thousand years. Ten thousand years, one moment.

There is no fire like greed, No crime like hatred, No sorrow like separation, No sickness like hunger of heart, And no joy like the joy of freedom. Health, contentment and trust Are your greatest possessions, And freedom your greatest joy. Look within. Be still. Free from fear and attachment, Know the sweet joy of living in the way.

A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.

You must take action yourself, for Buddhas only teach the way.

Fashion your life as a garland of beautiful deeds.

Dispassion is the best of mental states. . . .

Do not speak - unless it improves on silence.

The no-mind not-thinks no-thoughts about no-things.

When faced with the vicissitudes of life, one's mind remains unshaken, sorrow-less, stainless, secure; this is the greatest welfare

Awake. Be the witness of your thoughts. You are what observes, not what you observe.

The one who wanders independent in the world, free from opinions and viewpoints, does not grasp them and enter into disputations and arguments. As the lotus rises on its stalk unsoiled by the mud and the water, so the wise one speaks of peace and is unstained by the opinions of the world.

Silence is an empty space, space is the home of the awakened mind.

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

As irrigators lead water where they want, as archers make their arrows straight, as carpenters carve wood, the wise shape their minds.

Life is easy For the man who is without shame, Impudent as a crow, A vicious gossip, Vain, meddlesome, dissolute. But life is hard For the man who quietly undertakes The way of perfection, With purity, detachment and vigor. He sees light.

Just as a tree, though cut down, sprouts up again if its roots remain uncut and firm, even so, until the craving that lies dormant is rooted out, suffering springs up again and again.

All beings wish for happiness, so extend your compassion to all.

Serenity comes when you trade expectations for acceptance.

And he who has considered all the contrasts on this earth, and is no more disturbed by anything whatever in the world, the Peaceful One, freed from rage, from sorrow, and from longing, he has passed beyond birth and decay.

The trouble is you think you have time.

Happiness never decreased by being shared.

There's a treasury full of jade and jewels; It is in you. Don't go searching far from home for it-it's here.

Overcoming yourself is better than overcoming a million enemies in battle.