Suffering is not the end of the story; it is the middle of the story.

The practice is not about achieving special states but about seeing ordinary experience with extraordinary clarity.

Without darkness, there is no light. Without the path, there is no arrival.

Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions.

True happiness is born of letting go of what is unnecessary.

The path to liberation requires both understanding and practice, both pariyatti and patipatti.

The true path is not difficult; just avoid picking and choosing.

The mind itself is the maker of all happiness and misery; yet beings do not understand this and blame external conditions.

The mind is intrinsically empty. It's empty of all that we perceive as being intrinsically "me" and "mine."

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

The biggest prison is the one we build in our own mind.

Happiness is found in the simplest of things. It is not in the things you own, but in the love you share.

The measure of success in spiritual life is how peaceful you are.

Our own life has to be our message.

The development of insight is gradual, but the realization of truth is sudden.

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.

Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.

The more you understand impermanence, the more you appreciate every moment.

A pure mind is always full of love - real love for all others.

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

We practice to learn how to let go, not how to increase our holding on to things.

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.

When concentration is developed, wisdom arises. When wisdom arises, one becomes disenchanted with the five aggregates.

If you want to find peace, then look at that point where you find you're dissatisfied and investigate what's really going on.

The lamp of wisdom burns constantly, illuminating the nature of mind.

When mindfulness becomes continuous, the distinction between the observer and the observed begins to break down.

True peace comes not from controlling the world, but from letting go of control.

Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that's all that's happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction. On the other hand, wretchedness--life's painful aspect--softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person.

The entire path is a path of self-responsibility. Nobody else can walk it for you.

Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

There is no difference at all between samsara and nirvana. There is no difference at all between nirvana and samsara.

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes.

Mindfulness is attention to life, and life itself is sacred.

The door of your heart can only be opened from the inside.

The Noble Eightfold Path is a path of training: training in ethical conduct, training in mental discipline, and training in wisdom.

Happiness is a skill that can be developed like playing an instrument or learning to read.

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.

The development of wisdom does not occur in isolation but requires the cultivation of the entire Noble Eightfold Path.

Knowledge must be stabilized by meditation. Without meditation, knowledge is like a child in battle.

Mindfulness is not just bare attention but wise attention that leads to understanding and insight.

The grass is greener where you water it.

The Buddha's teachings are not a religion, but a science of mind.

When we recognize that our thoughts are just thoughts, we can choose whether or not to follow them.

Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.

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.

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

We don't set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people's hearts.

Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, wisdom arises naturally as we open our hearts to the truth of what is.

The purpose of meditation is to gain right understanding of the true nature of mental and physical phenomena.

The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.

Forgiveness is letting go of the hope that the past could have been any different.

The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

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

The only way to experience truth is to look within, to observe oneself.

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