Top 200 Daisaku Ikeda Quotes (2025 Update)
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151. “Men and women who know the brutal reality of war, who know that war strips people of their very humanity, must unite in a new global partnership for peace.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

152. “Increase your joy by doing the good you wish to have done to you.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

153. “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

154. “Rather than turning away from the staggering scale and depth of misery caused by war, we must strive to develop our capacity to empathize and feel the sufferings of others.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

155. “But I believe we must not allow feelings of defeat to take root in our hearts.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

156. “The willingness to challenge hardships taps the power within human beings to transform even a place of tragedy into a stage for fulfilling one’s mission.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

157. “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

158. “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

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

— Daisaku Ikeda

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

— Daisaku Ikeda

161. “Ultimately, all human activities have as their goal the realization of happiness. Why, then, have we ended up producing the opposite result? Could the underlying cause be our failure to correctly understand the true nature of happiness?”

— Daisaku Ikeda

162. “The greatest tragedy in life is not to die, it is to live as if dead, to let the life within us wither. Toward what goal or achievement are we striving in life? This is the important question to ask ourselves.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

163. “Where there is an absence of international political leadership, civil society should step in to fill the gap, providing the energy and vision needed to move the world in a new and better direction.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

164. “No matter how healthy, intelligent or affluent we may be, if our minds are weak, then our happiness will also be frail and brittle. Our minds of faith, moreover, enable us to bring out the full potential in all things and situations, so it is crucial that we strive to forge our minds of faith.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

165. “All people have a natural desire to be needed, to have their importance to others tangibly confirmed.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

166. “Instead of engaging in cutthroat competition, we should strive to create value. In economic terms, this means a transition from a consumer economy – the mad rush for ownership and consumption – to a constructive economy where all human beings can participate in the act of creating lasting worth.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

167. “Divorced from the cosmos, from nature, from society and from each other, we have become fractured and fragmented.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

168. “A commitment to human rights cannot be fostered simply through the transmission of knowledge. Action and experience play a crucial role in the learning process.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

169. “People need to be made conscious of a very simple reality: we have no choice but to share this planet, this small blue sphere floating in the vast reaches of space, with all of our fellow ‘passengers.’”

— Daisaku Ikeda

170. “Extreme poverty threatens people’s right to life itself and makes impossible the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms essential to a humane way of life.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

171. “A truley heroic way of life lies in squarely confronting and courageously overcoming the pounding vicissitudes that life always throws in our paths.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

172. “I believe that we must maintain pride in the knowledge that the actions we take, based on our own decisions and choices as individuals, link directly to the magnificent challenge of transforming human history.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

173. “No one is born hating others.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

174. “It is by fighting and triumphing over the enemies of the Buddha that we ourselves become Buddhas.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

175. “So long as nuclear weapons continue to exist, so will the temptation to threaten others with overwhelming military force.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

176. “The economy is after all driven by people. No matter how dire the situation may be, as long as people are firm, a turnaround, revival and progress can be possible.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

177. “I therefore hope you will pray about your problems in front of the Gohonzon. When we take our problems to the Gohonzon and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, courage wells forth and hope begins to shine in our hearts. “Faith for overcoming obstacles” is the same as “prayer for overcoming obstacles” and “chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for overcoming obstacles.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

178. “The crucial thing is to arouse the awareness that as a matter of human conscience we can never permit the people of any country to fall victim to nuclear weapons, and for each individual to express their refusal to continue living in the shadow of the threat they pose.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

179. “It is crucial that we develop real awareness of ourselves as citizens of Earth, linked by mutual and indissoluble bonds. When we clearly recognize this reality and ground ourselves in it, we are compelled to take a strict accounting of our way of life.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

180. “We must take steps to prevent further nuclear weapons development or modernization.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

181. “The gratification of desire is not happiness.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

182. “Lack of wisdom does not make a fool. A fool, in the truest sense, is the man who regards his own misfortunes or those of others as a source of doubt or criticism of the infinite mercy of the Gohonzon.-Josei Toda.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

183. “But I think we need to remember that democracy everywhere is by its nature incomplete, a work in progress.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

184. “People who are rooted in the here and now, who are not defeated by their limitations, who don’t compare themselves to others, who confidently advance along their chosen path-such people are happy, such people are truly great.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

185. “History is filled with tragic examples of wars that result from diplomatic impasse. Whether in our local communities or in international relations, the skillful use of our communicative capacities to negotiate and resolve differences is the first evidence of human wisdom.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

186. “Why is it that sometimes our prayers seem not to be answered? This is a manifestation of the Buddha’s wisdom, so that we can deepen our prayers, become stronger people, live more profound lives and secure deeper, more lasting good fortune. If our slightest prayer was answered immediately, we would become lazy and degenerate. And we could not hope to build a life of great dignity and substance.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

187. “Since ancient times, people from throughout Asia have brought to Japan their talents, knowledge and energy, helping to lay the basis for Japan’s existence as a country.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

188. “In the past, human society provided encouragement and opportunity for people to extend support to each other, especially in highly stressful situations.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

189. “Human rights will be a powerful force for the transformation of reality when they are not simply understood as externally defined norms of behavior but are lived as the spontaneous manifestation of internalized values.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

190. “A sense of being part of the great all-inclusive life prompts us to reflect on our own place and on how we ought to live. Guarding others’ lives, the ecology and the earth is the same as protecting one’s own life. By like token, wounding them is the same thing as wounding oneself. Consequently, it is the duty of each of us to participate as members of the life community in the evolution of the universe. We can do this by guarding earth’s ecological system.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

191. “Those who are aware of their mission are strong. Those who live for a mission are beautiful.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

192. “Only human beings have the ability to seek growth and self-improvement. We have the capacity to consciously change the direction of our lives, to enrich and deepen our lives instead of just allowing them to flow on aimlessly.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

193. “His spirit was never to waste a single moment, for once it was gone, it was gone forever.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

194. “When facing adversity, we may think we’ve reached our limit, but actually the more trying the circumstances, the closer we are to making a breakthrough. The darker the night, the nearer the dawn. Victory in life is decided by that last concentrated burst of energy filled with the resolve to win.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

195. “Please don’t worry. As long as you’re practising this faith, you can definitely become happy. That’s what Buddhism is for. Also, your current suffering and misfortune exist so that you may fulfil your own unique and noble mission. Everything will turn to defeat if all you do is worry about your karma and let it make you miserable.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

196. “Also, times when you are suffering intensely, when you don’t know what to do or which way to turn, can become important opportunities for making great strides in your human revolution. If you tend to be easily discouraged, just refresh your determination each time that happens.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

197. “True leaders are those who can offer appropriate advice based on their own rich experience, not people who just give orders and are all words and no substance. Leaders are first people of action who lead by personal example. They are not people who merely occupy some status or position. Leaders are people of hard work, not people of tactics and maneuvering. Above all, they are not authoritarians.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

198. “Those who have used political authority to promote their own interests feel greatly threatened by the growing numbers of Soka Gakkai–sponsored representatives who strive to realize a government that stands on the side of the people. They are afraid their own power base will be undermined. Other religious organizations also feel threatened by the Soka Gakkai’s progress. Because, were it to come down to a debate on doctrine, their defeat would be certain.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

199. “WHAT IS the fundamental purpose of education? Tsunesaburo Makiguchi declared, “The purpose of education is to enable children to live happy lives.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

200. “A religion that cannot help people become happy and lead fulfilling lives cannot possibly realize world peace and free the world’s people from suffering.”

— Daisaku Ikeda