Real Buddhist Quotes

Make an island of yourself, make yourself your refuge; there is no other refuge. Make truth your island, make truth your refuge; there is no other refuge.

Why do what you will regret? Why bring tears upon yourself? Do only what you do not regret, And fill yourself with joy.

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

When I hear real faithful people – whether it’s a real Christian, or a real Buddhist, or a real Muslim – I hear them use the language I use for a friend. So my metaphor for God is friend.

On a long journey of human life, faith is the best of companions; it is the best refreshment on the journey; and it is the greatest property.

There is no fire like passion
No crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation,
No sickness like hunger,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.

To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.

Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

You too shall pass away. Knowing this, how can you quarrel?

Health, contentment, and trust are your greatest possessions. And freedom your greatest joy.

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles.

A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, so he escapes the suffering.

There is no fire like passion: there is no evil and hatred.

Let a man avoid evil deeds as a man who loves life avoids poison.

The experience taught me to be present in the real Buddhist sense of paying attention to the moment.

Beware of the anger of the mouth. Master your words. Let them serve truth.

Born out of concern for all beings.

It is better to do nothing Than to do what is wrong. For whatever you do, you do to yourself.

A good friend who points out mistakes is to be respected, as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.

However many holy words you read, However many you speak, What good will they do you If you do not act on upon them?

There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought; what we think we become.

The world, indeed, is like a dream and the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage! Like the apparent distances in a picture, things have no reality in themselves, but they are like heat haze.

Whatever an enemy might do to an enemy, or a foe to a foe, the ill-directed mind can do to you even worse.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

Master your words. Master your thoughts. Never allow your body to do harm. Follow these three roads with purity And you will find yourself upon the one way, The way of wisdom.

Good men and bad men differ radically. Bad men never appreciate kindness shown them, but wise men appreciate and are grateful. Wise men try to express their appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to their benefactor, but to everyone else

Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.

To cease from evil, to do good, and to purify the mind yourself, this is the teaching of all the Buddhas.

Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.

With our thoughts we make the world.

If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.