Top 200 Buddhist Quotes (2024 Update)
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151. “If you are still following your likes and dislikes, you have not even begun to practise Dhamma.”

— Ajahn Chah

152. “If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart...”

— Pema Chödrön

153. “The source of love is deep in us and we can help others realize a lot of happiness. One word, one action, one thought can reduce another person’s suffering and bring that person joy.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

154. “In Buddhism, mindfulness is the key. Mindfulness is the energy that sheds light on all things and all activities, producing the power of concentration, bringing forth deep insight and awakening. Mindfulness is the base of Buddhist practice.”

— Nhat Hanh

155. “Equanimity is a perfect, unshakable balance of mind.”

— Nyanaponika Thera

156. “But when I know that the glass is already broken, every minute with it is precious.”

— Ajahn Chah

157. “The mind is the source of all experience, and by changing the direction of the mind, we can change the quality of everything we experience.”

— Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

158. “Calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health.”

— Dalai Lama XIV

159. “Breathing in, there is only the present moment. Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

160. “Because you are alive, everything is possible.”

— Nhat Hanh

161. “Make of yourself a light.”

— Buddha

162. “Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.”

— Alan Watts

163. “The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.”

— Pema Chödrön

164. “Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

165. “Life is short and the time of death is uncertain; so apply yourself to meditation. Avoid doing evil, and acquire merit, to the best of your ability, even at the cost of life itself. In short: Act so that you have no cause to be ashamed of yourselves and hold fast to this rule.”

— Milarepa

166. “If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.”

— Dalai Lama XIV

167. “A thousand candles can be lit from one candle, however the life of the original candle is not shortened in the least.”

— Dalai Lama XIV

168. “Buddhism is in your heart. Even if you don’t have any temple or any monks, you can still be a Buddhist in your heart and life.”

— Nhat Hanh

169. “I need nothing. I seek nothing. I desire nothing.”

— Milarepa

170. “Without understanding, your love is not true love. You must look deeply in order to see and understand the needs, aspirations, and suffering of the one you love.”

— Nhat Hanh

171. “If you want to be wisely selfish, care for others.”

— Dalai Lama XIV

172. “If you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.”

— Nhat Hanh

173. “The Buddhist expresses it in one way, the Christian in another, but both say the same: We are all one.”

— Nikola Tesla

174. “Usually when we hear or read something new, we just compare it to our own ideas. If it is the same, we accept it and say that it is correct. If it is not, we say it is incorrect. In either case, we learn nothing.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

175. “To let go does not mean to get rid of. To let go means to let be. When we let be with compassion, things come and go on their own.”

— Jack Kornfield

176. “Strong and healthy, who thinks of sickness until it strikes like lightning? Preoccupied with the world, who thinks of death, until it arrives like thunder?”

— Milarepa

177. “My actions are my only true belongings.”

— Nhat Hanh

178. “We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love.”

— Nhat Hanh

179. “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

180. “In horror of death, I took to the mountains – again and again I meditated on the uncertainty of the hour of death, capturing the fortress of the deathless unending nature of mind. Now all fear of death is over and done.”

— Milarepa

181. “Accustomed long to contemplating love and compassion I have forgotten all difference between myself and others.”

— Milarepa

182. “In criticizing, the teacher is hoping to teach. That’s all.”

— Bankei Yotaku

183. “Imagine the wisdom to be passed down from the classical Buddhist texts.”

— Russell Brand

184. “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the greatest joy for all humankind.”

— Nichiren

185. “Christ wasn’t a Christian and Buddha wasn’t a Buddhist and Muhammad wasn’t Muslim. These people were having the experience of unity consciousnesses and universal consciousness and they spoke of it in words.”

— Deepak Chopra

186. “By eating meat we share the responsibility of climate change, the destruction of our forests, and the poisoning of our air and water. The simple act of becoming a vegetarian will make a difference in the health of our planet.”

— Nhat Hanh

187. “In Buddhist culture, offering food to the monk symbolizes the action of goodness, and if you have no opportunity to support the practice of spirituality, then you are somehow left in the realm of darkness.”

— Nhat Hanh

188. “In every country in the world, killing human beings is condemned. The Buddhist precept of non-killing extends even further, to include all living beings.”

— Nhat Hanh

189. “People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child – our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

— Nhat Hanh

190. “We already have everything we need.”

— Pema Chödrön

191. “I sort of believe that my voice was preordained; I’m a Buddhist who believes in reincarnation so I think that my voice is a few lifetimes old.”

— K. D. Lang

192. “Sticking with that uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic-this is the spiritual path.”

— Pema Chödrön

193. “Imagine a multidimensional spider’s web in the early morning covered with dew drops. And every dew drop contains the reflection of all the other dew drops. And, in each reflected dew drop, the reflections of all the other dew drops in that reflection. And so ad infinitum. That is the Buddhist conception of the universe in an image.”

— Alan Watts

194. “Overcoming negative tendencies and enhancing positive potential are the very essence of the spiritual path.”

— Dalai Lama XIV

195. “We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart.”

— Pema Chödrön

196. “Determination means to use every challenge you meet as an opportunity to open your heart and soften, determined to not withdraw.”

— Pema Chödrön

197. “To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in no-man’s-land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh. To live is to be willing to die over and over again.”

— Pema Chödrön

198. “The spiritual journey involves going beyond hope and fear, stepping into unknown territory, continually moving forward. The most important aspect of being on the spiritual path may be just to keep moving.”

— Pema Chödrön

199. “Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

200. “Do not blindly believe what others say. See for yourself what brings contentment, clarity and peace. That is the path for you to follow.”

— Buddha