The path of insight is a path of discovery, not a path of creation. We are discovering what is already there.

The more you give, the more you have. That's the economics of kindness.

Altruism is not a luxury, it is a necessity for the survival of humanity.

The farther you enter into truth, the deeper it is.

The silence between the notes is as important as the notes themselves.

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

The most important factor in achieving happiness is the mind. Happiness and suffering are mental states and therefore depend on the mind.

When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us.

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

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

Not by hatred is hatred conquered, but by love alone. This is an eternal law.

The real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.

The world is its own magic.

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

The stages of insight unfold naturally when mindfulness is continuous. There is no need to desire them or try to make them happen.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

The Four Noble Truths are not merely theoretical propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our experience.

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

True happiness is not about getting rid of all our problems, but about changing our relationship to them.

The obstacle is the path.

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

The everyday practice is simply to develop complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions.

Peace and negativity cannot coexist just as light and darkness cannot coexist.

The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that's really swell.

Compassion is not just about being kind to others. It's about being kind to ourselves as well.

Real peace comes from seeing things as they really are, not as we want them to be.

Observe the reality as it is, not as you wish it to be.

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 goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self.

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

All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births in death.

The mind is like a well-forged sword - it adapts to all situations.

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.

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

Much of spiritual life is self-acceptance, maybe all of it.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

The past is for learning from, not for living in.

True happiness is not found through the multiplication of desires but through their simplification.

The purpose of meditation is not to create a new state of mind, but to recognize what is already present.

Don't try to change the world. First, change yourself.

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment.

The most important thing in life is to know death is coming and to prepare for it.

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

Mindfulness is the key to the present moment. Without it we cannot see the world clearly, and we cannot make the wisest choices in our lives.

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

Meditation is like catching a fish. If you try to catch it quickly, you'll miss it. If you have patience and know how to wait, the fish will come.

Dependent origination is not a theory about the origin of the world but a teaching that shows how suffering originates in dependence on our own mental processes.

The superior person is like water, bringing benefit to all without competing.

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

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

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

The menu is not the meal.

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

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.

The goal of Buddhist practice is not to escape from the world but to transform our relationship with it.

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

When you recognize that pain and suffering are impermanent, you become free.