To what shall I compare this life? It is like a boat that left at dawn, leaving no trace.

To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.

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

Just to be alive is enough.

Conquer anger with non-anger. Conquer evil with good. Conquer stinginess with giving. Conquer deceit with truth.

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.

When we know the truth, we become people who don't have to think much, we become people with wisdom.

Happiness is not the pursuit of an endless succession of experiences but an attitude toward life.

Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts.

The trouble is, you think you have time.

Your mind is like a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.

Face your own anger and you will be free from anger. Face your own fears and you will be free from fear.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

For whom emptiness is possible, everything is possible. For whom emptiness is not possible, nothing is possible.

When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.

The essence of Buddhist practice is to reduce our selfishness and to work for the benefit of others.

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

Compassion is not something we develop. It arises naturally as we see the truth of what is.

Love is not a feeling. It's a capability.

The purpose of a spiritual discipline is to give us a way to stop the war, not by our force of will, but through understanding and through letting go.

The perfect moment is this one, not the one you're waiting for.

Change is possible because there is nothing inherently permanent about our disturbing emotions.

The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

The victorious ones have said that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incurable.

Do not mistake understanding for realization, and do not mistake realization for liberation.

If you want to climb a mountain, begin at the top.

When one sees with wisdom that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, one is liberated from suffering.

Meditation is not an escape from reality but a way to understand reality as it truly is.

Every thought, every word, and every action leaves an imprint on our mind.

The nature of mind is not something we need to achieve - it's something we need to recognize.

The mind creates the abyss, and the heart crosses it.

Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.

The restraint of the senses is not a matter of suppression but of wise attention to our experience.

People who study a lot but don't practice are like a ladle in a soup pot. It's in the soup every day, but it doesn't know the taste of the soup.

The mind that notes and the object that is noted are both impermanent. Understanding this leads to liberation.

The precious pot containing my riches becomes my teacher in the very moment it breaks.

The teaching of the Buddha is based on two truths: conventional truth and ultimate truth. Without understanding the relationship between these two, the deeper meaning of the Buddha's teaching cannot be understood.

The Buddha's teaching is not about belief but about investigation, not about accepting but about examining.

The mind is everything. What you think, you become.

Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.

The path to liberation requires both individual effort and the support of the spiritual community.

Through violence, you may solve one problem, but you sow the seeds for another.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all. It is a realization that where you are is where you have always been.

Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.

Wisdom is not about accumulating knowledge, but about seeing through all knowledge.

Work diligently. Diligently. Work patiently and persistently. Patiently and persistently. And you're bound to be successful. Bound to be successful.

Understanding at the intellectual level is not enough. There must be experience at the actual level.

The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred.

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.

The Buddha taught that wealth does not bring happiness and security. The pursuit of wealth is a matter of living in balance.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.

Silence is sometimes the best answer.

The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.

Personal experience is everything in Zen. No ideas are intelligible to those who have no backing of experience.

The realization of impermanence leads not to despair but to a deeper appreciation of the preciousness of each moment.

To live fully is to let go and die with each step.