Top 20 S. N. Goenka Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Work diligently. Diligently. Work patiently and persistently. Patiently and persistently. And you’re bound to be successful. Bound to be successful.”

— S. N. Goenka

Featured in: Hard Work Quotes, Dedication Quotes, Commitment Quotes, Quotes About Trying, Habit Quotes

2. “Vipassana is the art of living. Not the art of escaping.”

— S. N. Goenka

Featured in: Wellness Quotes

3. “If there is no peace in the minds of individuals, how can there be peace in the world? Make peace in your own mind first.”

— S. N. Goenka

Featured in: Inner Peace Quotes, Mental Health Quotes, Peace of Mind Quotes, Peace Quotes, Meditation Quotes

4. “Discover real peace and harmony within yourself, and naturally this will overflow to benefit others.”

— S. N. Goenka

Featured in: Self-Care Quotes, Serenity Quotes, Harmony Quotes

5. “For real happiness, for real lasting stable happiness, one has to make a journey deep within oneself and see that one gets rid of all the unhappiness and misery stored in the deeper levels of the mind.”

— S. N. Goenka

Featured in: Focus On Yourself Quotes, Inner Peace Quotes, Peace of Mind Quotes, Meditation Quotes

6. “The consequences of today are determined by the actions of the past. To change your future, alter your decisions today.”

— S. N. Goenka

Featured in: Accountability Quotes, Decision-Making Quotes

7. “When one experiences truth, the madness of finding fault with others disappears.”

— S. N. Goenka

8. “Observe the reality as it is. As it is, not as you wish it to be. Perhaps your breath is deep. Perhaps your breath is shallow. Perhaps you breathed in through the left nostril. Perhaps you breathed in through the right nostril. It makes no difference.”

— S. N. Goenka

Featured in: Mindfulness Quotes

9. “Peace and negativity cannot coexist just as light and darkness cannot coexist.”

— S. N. Goenka

10. “We cannot live in the past; it is gone. Nor can we live in the future; it is forever beyond our grasp. We can live only in the present. If we are unaware of our present actions, we are condemned to repeating the mistakes of the past and can never succeed in attaining our dreams for the future.”

— S. N. Goenka

11. “The only conversion involved in Vipassana is from misery to happiness, from bondage to liberation.”

— S. N. Goenka

Featured in: Peace of Mind Quotes

12. “One learns the art of dying by learning the art of living: how to become master of the present moment.”

— S. N. Goenka

13. “The mind spends most of the time lost in fantasies and illusions, reliving pleasant or unpleasant experiences and anticipating the future with eagerness or fear. While lost in such cravings or aversions, we are unaware of what is happening now, what we are doing now.”

— S. N. Goenka

14. “Love with attachment consists of waves of emotion, usually creating invisible iron chains.”

— S. N. Goenka

15. “Removing old conditionings from the mind and training the mind to be more equaimous with every experience is the first step toward enabling one to experience true happiness.”

— S. N. Goenka

16. “Grasping at things can only yield one of two results: Either the thing you are grasping at disappears, or you yourself disappear. It is only a matter of which occurs first.”

— S. N. Goenka

17. “If we can develop the ability to be aware of the present moment, we can use the past as a guide for ordering our actions in the future, so that we may attain our goal.”

— S. N. Goenka

18. “Rather than converting people from one organised religion to another organised religion, we should try to convert people from misery to happiness, from bondage to liberation and from cruelty to compassion.”

— S. N. Goenka

19. “The Buddha never taught a sectarian religion; he taught Dhamma – the way to liberation – which is universal.”

— S. N. Goenka

20. “One has to live in the present. Whatever is past is gone beyond recall; whatever is future remains beyond one’s reach, until it becomes present. Remembering the past and giving thought to the future are important, but only to the extent that they help one deal with the present.”

— S. N. Goenka

21. “Anything that arises in the mind will manifest itself as a sensation on the body; if you observe this sensation you are observing both the mind as well as matter.”

— S. N. Goenka

22. “Homage to the Buddha: Such truly is he: free from impurities, having destroyed all mental defilements, fully enlightened by his own efforts, perfect in theory and in practice, having reached the final goal, knowing the entire universe, incomparable trainer of men, teacher of gods and humans, the Buddha, the Exalted One.”

— S. N. Goenka