Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.

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

Zen is a way of life, not a theory or a piece of knowledge to be stored away in our minds.

When we understand that peace is not dependent on external conditions, we can find it in the midst of any circumstance.

Liberation is not found by running away from our experience but by looking deeply into it.

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

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

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

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

The Dhamma unfolds in accordance with a definite sequence: faith, virtue, learning, generosity, wisdom, and insight.

The only things that are truly mine are my actions and their results.

A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.

The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought.

The willingness to empty ourselves and then seek our true nature is an expression of great and courageous love.

The menu is not the meal.

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

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

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

Each of you is perfect the way you are... and you can use a little improvement.

External phenomena are like a dream, whatever appears is not real. Recognize the nature of dream-like phenomena to be dream-like.

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

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.

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

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

Study the Buddha's teaching which is present in every moment.

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

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

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

Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: you won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

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

We do not "come into" this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree.

The affairs of the world will go on forever. Do not delay the practice of meditation.

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

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

Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.

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

True peace is found not in the absence of experience but in the clear seeing of all experience.

The difference between being caught in thoughts and being mindful of thoughts is like the difference between being in a movie and watching a movie.

The way to change the world is to change your own mind.

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.

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

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

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

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

Karma is not fate but the law of moral causation, showing us that we are the architects of our own destiny.

Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

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

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

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

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.

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

Time passes unhindered. When we make mistakes, we cannot turn the clock back and try again. All we can do is use the present well.