Top 500 Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes (2025 Update)
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251. “True happiness isn’t found in success, money, fame, or power. True happiness should be found in the here and the now. With that kind of insight you can truly relax.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

252. “We are not noble by birth. We are noble only by virtue of the way we think, speak, and act.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

253. “Shouting at someone is not the way to help. If you’ve already shouted, then realize that this is one of your unskillful behaviors. Go back to your in-breath and out-breath and say, I have to repair this. Then go to the other person and apologize, and tell yourself that next time you’ll try your best to remember beforehand and act differently.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

254. “Nourish yourself every day with the wonderful things that life has to offer you. Nourish yourself in the present moment. Walk in the kingdom of God.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

255. “Don’t chew your worries, your fear, or your anger. If you chew your planning and your anxiety, it’s difficult to feel grateful for each piece of food. Just chew your food.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

256. “The Four Establishments of Mindfulness are the foundation of our dwelling place. Without them, our house is abandoned; no one is sweeping, dusting or tidying up. Our body becomes unkempt, or feelings full of suffering, and our mind a heap of afflictions. When we are truly home, our body, mind, and feelings will be a refuge for ourselves and others.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

257. “Many people still believe that we can only be happy when we have a lot of money and power. Looking around, we see many people who have plenty of money and power, but who still suffer very deeply from stress and loneliness. So power and money are not the answer. We have to educate ourselves in the art of living mindfully.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

258. “To live in the present moment is a miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

259. “He saw that living beings suffer because they do not understand that they share one common ground with all beings.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

260. “If we lose the present moment, we lose life.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

261. “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

262. “You think that you’re safe when carrying your phone. But the truth is that mindfulness will do much more than a phone to protect you, to help you suffer less, and to improve your communication.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

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

— Thich Nhat Hanh

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

— Thich Nhat Hanh

265. “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

266. “The wheat field needs clouds and sunshine. So in this slice of bread there is sunshine, there is cloud, there is the labor of the farmer, the joy of having flour, and the skill of the baker and then – miraculously! – there is the bread. The whole cosmos has come together so that this piece of bread can be in your hand. You don’t need to do a lot of hard work to get this insight. You only need to stop letting your mind carry you away with worrying, thinking, and planning.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

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

— Thich Nhat Hanh

268. “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

269. “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

270. “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

271. “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

272. “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

273. “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

274. “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

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

— Thich Nhat Hanh

276. “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

277. “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

278. “What you read and write can help you heal, so be thoughtful about what you consume.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

279. “Throughout our life we produce energy. We say things and do things, and every thought, every word, and every act carries our signature. What we produce as thoughts, as speech, as action, continues to influence the world, and that is our continuation body. Our actions carry us into the future. We are like stars whose light energy continues to radiate across the cosmos millions of years after they become extinct.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

280. “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

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

— Thich Nhat Hanh

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

— Thich Nhat Hanh

283. “To love is, first of all, to accept ourselves as we are.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

284. “When you work with your computer for three or four hours, you are totally lost. It’s like eating french fries. You shouldn’t eat french fries all day, and you shouldn’t be on the computer all day.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

285. “Suffering has its beneficial aspects. It can be an excellent teacher.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

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

— Thich Nhat Hanh

287. “What we have is enough for us. Once we adopt that style of living, we become a happy person right away.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

288. “Our quality of being determines our quality of doing.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

289. “The greatest gift we can offer anyone is our true presence.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

290. “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

291. “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

292. “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

293. “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

294. “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

295. “When you sit alone quietly, it’s something beautiful, even if nobody sees it.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

296. “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

297. “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

298. “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

299. “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

300. “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