The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.

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

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

The true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.

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

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

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

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.

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

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.

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

Our true nature is like a diamond - pure, brilliant, and indestructible. No matter how much dirt covers it, its essential nature remains unchanged.

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

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

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

Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead, it's about becoming more fully human.

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

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

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

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

Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.

Better to have one moment of genuine meditation than to perform religious activities for a thousand years.

The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness.

Silence is sometimes the best answer.

The more you understand yourself, the more you understand the world.

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.

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 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.

All that appears and exists, all of samsara and nirvana, has one ground, two paths, and two results. This is the magical display of awareness and unawareness.

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

Every being has the potential of becoming a Buddha. Our true nature is Buddha nature.

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

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

The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense.

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

When you note pain, you are not trying to make it go away. You are trying to understand its true nature.

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced mind that sees things clearly without reaction.

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

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

The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind.

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

The key to transformation is not to fight with our experience but to open to it with awareness.

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

The mind is like a room with many windows. Open them all and let the fresh air in.

To live is enough.

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

Don't be afraid of the future. The future is good.

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

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

Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher.

The truth of suffering is not to be feared but to be understood through direct observation.

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

The deepest happiness comes from having an enduring sense of purpose, one that gives our lives meaning beyond the endless pursuit of pleasure and success.

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

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

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

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

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