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

Since all things are empty of inherent existence, anything is possible. If things had inherent existence, nothing would be possible.

It is never too late to turn on the light.

Don't try to push away the darkness. Just light a lamp. The darkness will disappear by itself.

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

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

The more you suffer the deeper grows your character, and with the deepening of your character you read the more penetratingly into the secrets of life.

Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind.

In the moment of pure noting, there is no self - only the knowing and the known.

When the mind is ready to understand, the truth will come to meet it.

Real happiness lies within. It cannot be found in external objects or achievements.

Craving and aversion are the roots of suffering. Observe them with equanimity.

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

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

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.

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

True freedom is a freedom from the tyranny of our own thoughts and afflictive emotions.

Loving-kindness is not something we need to manufacture. It's a natural expression of our awakened nature.

When you begin to see that your enemy is suffering, that is the beginning of insight.

When the heart is still, it can be kind. When the mind is still, it can see clearly.

Enlightenment is not the end of change but the end of resistance to change.

Don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive anyway.

Faith is the firm foundation, diligence the supporting pillar, and wisdom the roof of the house of practice.

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

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

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.

Real freedom is not about controlling our experience, but about being free within our experience.

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

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything.

The secret of happiness lies not in getting what we want, but in learning to want what we already have.

The root of suffering is attachment.

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

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

As surely as there is a voyage away, there is a journey home.

The ocean does not reject any water; therefore it is great. The mountain does not select its stones; therefore it is great.

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

The key to the Buddha's teaching is not grasping, not trying to hold onto things that are essentially impermanent and unstable.

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

When dharma fills your body and mind, you realize that something is missing.

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

The more clearly you see the arising and passing of phenomena, the less you will be attached to them.

Enlightenment is the realization that we were never really separate from one another or from all of life.

Our emotions are like waves in the ocean. We can't stop the waves, but we can learn to surf.

Insight knowledge comes from direct experience, not from intellectual understanding.

It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.

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

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

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

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

Suffering comes from our resistance to what is. Peace comes from our acceptance of what is.

In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.

Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks.

Mindfulness is being aware of what's going on, not trying to control what's going on.

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

We can learn the art of fierce compassion - redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid us-vs.-them thinking.

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

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

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