Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

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.

If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace.

Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.

The Buddha never taught a sectarian religion; he taught Dhamma - the way to liberation - which is universal.

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

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

The only thing that we truly have control over is our attitude toward experience.

Panic is a gateway to wisdom. When we learn to stay present with our panic, it becomes our teacher.

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

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.

The best way to solve a problem is to help someone else solve their problem.

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

Buddhist practice is not to eliminate life's problems but to grow with them patiently and with compassion.

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

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

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

The practice of mindfulness is the practice of being alive in the present moment.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

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.

Self-awareness is the key to freedom. The more we understand ourselves, the more we understand how to be free.

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

The more we understand impermanence, the more we appreciate each moment of our lives.

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

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

The more we understand the nature of our mind, the more we understand the nature of our world.

True freedom is not the absence of commitment but the presence of choice.

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

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

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

The heart of one who practices is like the earth. No matter what they throw on it, the earth remains unchanged.

The path is the goal. Every step of the journey is the journey.

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

The mind that sees its own nature becomes free from all extremes.

The true mark of a spiritual practitioner is that your own behavior is better, not that you can criticize others well.

Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

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.

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 essence of meditation is not something complicated or exotic. It is simply taking a break from our habitual patterns.

The key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, fear and suspicion.

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

Just as true humor is laughter at oneself, true humanity is knowledge of oneself.

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

Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.

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

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

The mind is the forerunner of all things. Our present life is the result of our past thoughts, and our future life will be the result of our present thoughts.

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

The practice of Buddhism is fundamentally a practice of expanding our happiness and diminishing our suffering.

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

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

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

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

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

The more precisely you note, the more clearly you understand. The more clearly you understand, the stronger your insight becomes.

Those who understand interdependent origination understand suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

Don't be a bodhisatta; don't be an arahant; don't be anything at all. Being something makes you suffer.

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

The instant you speak about a thing, you miss the mark.