Top 500 Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes (2024 Update)
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251. “When you lose a loved one, you suffer. But if you know how to look deeply, you have a chance to realize that his or her nature is truly the nature of no birth, no death. There is manifestation and there is the cessation of manifestation in order to have another manifestation. You have to be very keen and very alert in order to recognize the new manifestations of just one person.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

252. “I inherit the results of my acts of body, speech, and mind. My actions are my continuation.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

253. “When we have hatred and anger in ourselves, they rebound to all quarters. When we have peace and joy in ourselves, our peace and joy will radiate throughout the whole cosmos.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

254. “When conditions are sufficient, we manifest. When conditions are no longer sufficient, we no longer manifest. It does not mean that we do not exist. Like radio waves without a radio, we do not manifest.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

255. “In our sangha, we have a porch we call, Listening to the Rain Veranda. We made it specially for that purpose – so we could sit there and listen to the rain and not need to think about anything. Listening to the rain can help the mind come to stillness.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

256. “There is a saying: If a tiger comes down off his mountain and goes to the lowlands, he will be caught by humans and killed. It means if a practitioner leaves his or her Sangha, it becomes difficult to continue the practice. Taking refuge in the Sangha is not a matter of devotion. It is a matter of practice.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

257. “It’s like when you climb a ladder. When you get to the fourth rung, you may think you are on the highest step and cannot go higher, so you hold on to the fourth rung. But in fact there is a fifth rung; if you want to get to it, you have to be willing to abandon the fourth rung. Ideas and perceptions should be abandoned all the time, to make room for better ideas and truer perceptions. This is why we must always ask ourselves, “Am I sure?”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

258. “Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life. Don’t be attached to the future. Don’t worry about things you have to do. Don’t think about getting up or taking off to do anything. Don’t think about “departing”.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

259. “There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way. There is no way to peace, peace is the way. There is no way to enlightenment, enlightenment is the way.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

260. “We are aware that blaming and arguing can never help us and only create a wider gap between us; that only understanding, trust, and love can help us change and grow.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

261. “Every one of us is trying to find our true home. Some of us are still searching. Our true home is inside, but it’s also in our loved ones around us. When you’re in a loving relationship, you and the other person can be a true home for each other.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

262. “The object of your practice should first of all be yourself. Your love for the other, your ability to love another person, depends on your ability to love yourself.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

263. “The way out is in.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

264. “See that everything is impermanent and without eternal identity. See that although things are impermanent and without lasting identity, they are nonetheless wondrous.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

265. “We have an idea of happiness. We believe that only certain conditions will make us happy. But it is often our very idea of happiness that prevents us from being happy.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

266. “With mindful walking, our steps are no longer a means to arrive at an end.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

267. “If someone were to ask, “What’s the purpose of walking meditation? What’s the point? Why do you practice it?” There are several answers we can give. But for me the best answer is, “Because I like it.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

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

— Thich Nhat Hanh

269. “There is no difference between healing ourselves and healing the Earth.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

270. “Our happiness and suffering are the happiness and suffering of others.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

271. “All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them. I cannot keep anything. I come here empty-handed, and I go empty-handed. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

272. “One day my left hand was holding a nail and my right hand a hammer. I was trying to hang a picture and I was not very mindful. Instead of pounding on the nail I pounded on the finger. Right away my right hand put the hammer down and took care of my left hand as if she were taking care of herself.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

273. “True love is made of four elements: loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

274. “If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. It’s so clear. Mindfulness is the energy and practice that helps you go back to the here and now so that you encounter life.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

275. “Calming, Smiling. Present moment, Wonderful moment.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

276. “When there are wars within us, it will not be long before we are at war with others, even those we love.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

277. “In us, there is a river of feelings, in which every drop of water is a different feeling, and each feeling relies on all the others for its existence. To observe it, we just sit on the bank of the river and identify each feeling as it surfaces, flows by, and disappears.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

278. “Just as a flower is made only of non-flower elements, Buddhism is made only of non-Buddhist elements, including Christian ones, and Christianity is made of non-Christian elements, including Buddhist ones.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

279. “Impermanence and selflessness are not negative aspect of life, but the very foundation on which life is built. Impermanence is the constant transformation of things. Without impermanence, there can be no life. Selflessness is the interdependent nature of all things. Without interdependence, nothing could exist.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

280. “As the Buddha said, “The past no longer is, the future is not yet here; there is only one moment in which life is available, and that is the present moment.” To meditate with mindful breathing is to bring body and mind back to the present moment so that you do not miss your appointment with life.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

281. “When you prepare a meal with artful awareness, it’s delicious and healthy. You have put your mindfulness, love, and care into the meal, then people will be eating your love.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

282. “When we’re having a toothache, we know that not having a toothache is a wonderful thing. Yet when we don’t have a toothache, we’re still not happy. A non-toothache is very pleasant.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

283. “Feeling the heat of anger right now, I close my eyes and look into the future. Three hundred years from now, where will you, where will I, be?”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

284. “Emptiness means to be full of everything but empty of a separate existence.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

285. “A real love letter is made of insight, understanding, and compassion. Otherwise it’s not a love letter. A true love letter can produce a transformation in the other person, and therefore in the world. But before it produces a transformation in the other person, it has to produce a transformation within us. Some letters may take the whole of our lifetime to write.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

286. “When you have trouble sleeping, follow your breathing in and breathing out. Bring your awareness to the different parts of your body in turn, and allow them to relax.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

287. “Everyone needs a spiritual dimension in life. Without a spiritual dimension, it’s very challenging to be with the daily difficulties we all encounter.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

288. “I am inviting you to go deeper, to learn and to practice so that you become someone who has a great capacity for being solid, calm, and without fear, because our society needs people like you who have these qualities, and your children, our children, need people like you, in order to go on, in order to become solid, and calm, and without fear.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

289. “We absorb and reflect what is around us. If we live in a place where people are angry and violent, then eventually we’ll become like them.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

290. “When you love someone, the most precious gift you can give your loved one is your true presence.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

291. “When a feeling or thought arises, your intention should not be to chase it away, even if by continuing to concentrate on the breath the feeling or thought passes naturally from the mind. The intention isn’t to chase it away, hate it, worry about it, or be frightened by it. So what exactly should you be doing concerning such thoughts and feelings? Simply acknowledge their presence.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

292. “Our suffering is impermanent, and that is why we can transform it. And because happiness is impermanent, that is why we have to nourish it.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

293. “Violence can never bring about peace and understanding. Only by looking deeply in order to understand the true roots of violence can we achieve peace.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

294. “Root out the violence in your life, and learn to live compassionately and mindfully. Seek peace. When you have peace within, real peace with others is possible.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

295. “When we observe or listen to other people, we often don’t see them clearly or really hear what they’re saying. We see and hear our projections and prejudices instead.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

296. “Standing in line at a grocery store or a restaurant, or waiting for the time to eat, we don’t need to waste our time. We don’t need to “wait” for one second. Instead, we can enjoy breathing in and out for our nourishment and healing. We can use that time to notice that we will soon be able to have food, and we can be happy and grateful during that time. Instead of waiting, we can generate joy.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

297. “What are you ruminating on? Old suffering?”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

298. “If you can see your mother as a fragile five-year-old girl, then you can forgive her very easily with compassion. The five-year-old girl who was your mother is always alive in her and in you.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

299. “You have to protect yourself and your beloved ones by practicing selective watering.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

300. “When this body was just born, it was very light. As we grow, we tend to get weighed down by worries and lose our freshness and beauty. Mindful eating helps us regain this freshness, nourishing our spirits as well as our bodies. Eating with appreciation of our own bodies, we eat with more relaxation and joy.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh