Nhat Hanh Quotes

When we enter the present moment deeply, our regrets and sorrows disappear, and we discover life with all its wonders.

Nonviolent action, born of the awareness of suffering and nurtured by love, is the most effective way to confront adversity.

Our life is a manifestation, and we can very well make that manifestation beautiful and meaningful and have a good influence.

Whenever anger comes up, take out a mirror and look at yourself. When you are angry, you are not very beautiful.

The purpose of a vacation is to have the time to rest. But many of us, even when we go on vacation, don't know how to rest. We may even come back more tired than before we left.

Anger and hatred are the materials from which hell is made.

We inter-breath with the rain forests, we drink from the oceans. They are part of our own body.

Nirvana is the complete silencing of concepts.

I am determined to practice deep listening. I am determined to practice loving speech.

Happiness is available. Please help yourself to it.

Mother Earth is very talented. She has produced Buddhas, bodhisattvas, great beings.

There are some people who eat an orange but don't really eat it. They eat their sorrow, fear, anger, past, and future.

Birth is okay and death is okay, if we know that they are only concepts in our mind. Reality transcends both birth and death.

Today, you can decide to walk in freedom. You can choose to walk differently. You can walk as a free person, enjoying every step.

So if we love someone, we should train in being able to listen. By listening with calm and understanding, we can ease the suffering of another person. [True Love. A Practice for Awakening the Heart.]

The fact that I am standing there and washing bowls is a wondrous reality. I'm being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions.

I vow to live fully in each moment.

The raft is used to cross the river. It isn't to be carried around on your shoulders. The finger which points at the moon isn't the moon itself.

A human being is like a television set with millions of channels.... We cannot let just one channel dominate us. We have the seed of everything in us, and we have to recover our own sovereignty.

Meditation is to get insight, to get understanding and compassion, and when you have them, you are compelled to act.

Reality is reality. It transcends every concept. There is no concept which can adequately describe it, not even the concept of interdependence.

Until there is peace between religions, there can be no peace in the world.

Meditation is offering your genuine presence to yourself in every moment.

When you understand the roots of anger in yourself and in the other, your mind will enjoy true peace, joy and lightness

To develop understanding, you have to practice looking at all living things with the eyes of compassion.

You cannot transmit wisdom and insight to another person. The seed is already there. A good teacher touches the seed, allowing it to wake up, to sprout, and to grow.

There is a time for everything. There is a time when I sit down, I concentrate myself on the problem of my bills, but I would not worry before that. One thing at a time.

Life is a miracle, and being aware of simply this can already make us very happy.

Meditation is not to avoid society; it is to look deep to have the kind of insight you need to take action. To think that it is just to sit down and enjoy the calm and peace, is wrong.

Those who are without compassion cannot see what is seen with the eyes of compassion.

Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.

We need enlightenment, not just individually but collectively, to save the planet.

If we practice mindfulness, we always have a place to be when we are afraid.

Before you do something to help, your presence already can bring some relief.

When you love someone, the best you can offer is your presence.

Preventing war is much better than protesting against the war. Protesting the war is too late.

What is most important is to find peace and to share it with others. To have peace, you can begin by walking peacefully. Everything depends on your steps.

As a human being, you have the right to get angry; but as a practitioner, you do not have the right to stop practicing.

Let us fill our hearts with our own compassion - towards ourselves and towards all living beings.

The more compassionate you are, the more generous you can be. The more generous you are, the move loving friendliness you cultivate to help the world.

In order to be loved, we have to love, which means we have to understand.

The other person has wrong perceptions about himself and about us. And we have wrong perceptions about ourselves and the other person. And that is the foundation for violence and conflict and war.

True love always brings joy to ourself and the one we love. If our love does not bring joy to both of us, it is not true love.

In order to heal others, we first need to heal ourselves. And to heal ourselves, we need to know how to deal with ourselves.

Being rich is an obstacle to loving. When you are rich, you want to continue to be rich, and so you end up devoting all your time, all your energy, in your daily life to stay rich.

I realize that many elements of the Buddhist teaching can be found in Christianity, Judaism, Islam. I think if Buddhism can help, it is the concrete methods of practice.

Artists have to show us what is not going well within the person and within the society, not try to cover it up.

If you realize that the other person is a human being too, and you have exactly the same kind of spiritual path, and then the two can become good practitioners. This appears to be practical for both.

Seeds can produce seeds Seeds can produce formations. Formations can produce seeds. Formations can produce formations.

Look into a flower and you see the whole cosmos.