Top 200 Daisaku Ikeda Quotes (2024 Update)
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101. “Leadership that exploits and sacrifices young people on the altar of its goals is nothing more than raw, demonic power. Genuine leadership is found in ceaseless efforts to foster young people, to pave the way forward for them.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

102. “Become like the sun. If you do so, all darkness will be dispelled. No matter what happens, live confidently with the conviction that you, yourself are the “sun.” Of course, in life there are sunny days and cloudy days. But even on cloudy days, the sun is still there. Even when you are suffering, it is vital that you strive to keep the sun shining brightly in your heart.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

103. “There is no true joy in a life lived closed up in the little shell of the self. When you take one step to reach out to people, when you meet with others and share their thoughts and sufferings, infinite compassion and wisdom well up within your heart. Your life is transformed.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

104. “I cannot say this too strongly: Do not compare yourselves to others. Be true to who you are, and continue to learn with all your might.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

105. “What may look like a small act of courage is courage nevertheless. The important thing is to be willing to take a step forward.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

106. “We have both a weak self and a strong self; the two are completely different. If we allow our weak side to dominate, we will be defeated. The thought ,“I am still young and have a lot of time, so I can relax and take life easy” is a function of our own weakness.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

107. “World peace is not something that can be realized simply by politicians signing treaties, or by business leaders creating economic cooperation. True and lasting peace will be realized only by forging bonds of trust between people at the deepest level, in the depths of their very lives.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

108. “Hope is life’s greatest treasure. If you have no hope, create some!”

— Daisaku Ikeda

109. “Patience is, in and of itself, a great challenge and it often holds the key to breaking through a seeming impasse.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

110. “It is important that we have the inner richness to be able to look up at the stars or the moon and compose a poem once in a while. When we open wide our minds and fix our gaze on the universe, we fix our gaze on our own life.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

111. “There are no greater treasures than the highest human qualities such as compassion, courage and hope. Not even tragic accident or disaster can destroy such treasures of the heart.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

112. “In most cases, our so-called limitations are nothing more than our own decision to limit ourselves.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

113. “There is no one as strong as a person whose heart is always filled with gratitude.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

114. “Our hopes, desires and ambitions are powerful forces existing within us for the shaping of the future. They are the generating forces that create the future.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

115. “True happiness means forging a strong spirit that is undefeated, no matter how trying our circumstances.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

116. “The effects of human rights education can be dramatic in awakening people to the value and power of their own lives, as shown in the following stories.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

117. “The wisdom and experience of older people is a resource of inestimable worth. Recognizing and treasuring the contributions of older people is essential to the long-term flourishing of any society.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

118. “Youthfulness is not determined by age. It is determined by one’s life force. One who possesses hope is forever young. One who continually advances is forever beautiful.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

119. “I believe that a culture of peace must be the essential foundation of our efforts for peace.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

120. “A moment’s encounter can decide the direction of one’s entire life.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

121. “The differences between people need not act as barriers that wound, harm and drive us apart. Rather, these very differences among cultures and civilizations should be valued as manifestations of the richness of our shared creativity.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

122. “Great art is created only through diligent and painstaking effort to perfect and polish oneself.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

123. “Happiness does not exist as an isolated quality, nor does it conform to a single fixed pattern. Happiness is something that breathes and lives in the relationships between one person and another.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

124. “The idea of interdependence is central to Buddhism, which holds that all things come into being through the mutual interactions of various causes and conditions.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

125. “Salute to the Smiling Faces of the 21st Century.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

126. “The eyes of a poet discover in each person a unique and irreplaceable humanity. While arrogant intellect seeks to control and manipulate the world, the poetic spirit bows with reverence before its mysteries.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

127. “Like the ocean that remains calm in its depths even when waves rage over its surface, and like the sun that continues shining on high even during storms, we can at each moment create value and develop our state of life, enjoying our existence to the fullest in times of both suffering and joy.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

128. “The person who lives life fully, glowing with life’s energy, is the person who lives a successful life.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

129. “While conservatism and self-protection might be likened to winter, night, and death, the spirit of pioneering and attempting to realize ideals evokes images of spring, morning, and birth.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

130. “I firmly believe that the mission of religion in the 21st century must be to contribute concretely to the peaceful coexistence of humankind.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

131. “A person fully awakened to the jewel-like dignity of their own life is capable of truly respecting that same treasure in others.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

132. “It is only through such real-life daily struggles and challenges that a genuine sensitivity to human rights can be inculcated. This is a truth that is not limited to school education: it applies to all of us.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

133. “The reactions of the human heart are not mechanical and predictable but infinitely subtle and delicate.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

134. “You must not for one instant give up the effort to build new lives for yourselves. Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

135. “One cannot, without reflection, make some into bearers of goodness and others into miscreants, judging them by relative positive or negative criteria. These, like everything else, change according to historical circumstances, the character of a society, the time and subjective points of view.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

136. “Speak out tirelessly with conviction.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

137. “A genuinely happy person is one who has rendered others happy.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

138. “I have for some time urged that a nuclear abolition summit to mark the effective end of the nuclear era be convened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 70th anniversary of the bombings of those cities, with the participation of national leaders and representatives of global civil society.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

139. “There are some among the so-called elite who are overbearing and arrogant. I want to foster leaders, not elitists.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

140. “Humanity has experienced many revolutionary changes over the course of history: revolutions in agriculture, in science, industrial production, as well as numerous political revolutions. But these have all been limited to the external aspects of our individual and collective lives.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

141. “Encouragement inspires people and lights the flame of courage in their hearts. To have that effect, however, one must develop a radiant state of life and engage people with every ounce of one’s being. Such a spirit touches people’s lives and gives them hope and inspiration.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

142. “Having lived through the transition from totalitarianism, I am acutely mindful of the need to never take for granted the basic freedoms of thought, expression and belief that democracy brings.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

143. “Whatever your circumstances, whatever your past, the forces that determine your future are nowhere but within your own heart and mind. It is here that the star of your destiny shines.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

144. “Poems and songs penned as an unstoppable outpouring of the heart take on a life of their own. They transcend the limits of nationality and time as they pass from person to person, from one heart to another.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

145. “When human beings live together, conflict is inevitable. War is not.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

146. “Faced with stress, too many people feel they have nowhere to turn to, that they don’t have access to the kind of friendships or communities where they can easily and openly share their problems and worries.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

147. “Every war, when viewed from the undistorted perspective of life’s sanctity, is a “civil war” waged by humanity against itself.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

148. “We are not merely passive pawns of historical forces; nor are we victims of the past. We can shape and direct history.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

149. “Envying another’s beauty will diminish your own. But when you praise beauty in others your own beauty deepens.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

150. “The place where you are now is vital. The path toward victory opens from where you stand.”

— Daisaku Ikeda