A library of wisdom
Quotes, every concept, every voice
622 hand-picked quotes from the world's wisdom traditions, each linked to its source concept. Filter by concept below, or scroll through the whole library.
“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.”
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.”
“Death is not an end but a moment of arising into another bardo. The way we have lived is the way we will die. The way we die is the way the next state begins.”
“When you are sad and depressed, when life seems to have lost its meaning, that is the moment when bodhicitta is most needed.”
“Whenever we follow our wandering, scattered minds, we are creating the conditions for suffering. Whenever we are present, here, now — even for a moment — we are creating the conditions for liberation.”
“The bad news is you're falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is there's no ground.”
“Discipline is not pleasing the teacher; it is keeping the work in your own hands.”
“In meditation, do not look for a particular kind of experience. The point of the practice is to be present to whatever arises.”
“In the cool shade of trees, the lord of yogis sat. The hare cradled the moon. Each mind was its own paradise.”
“When you understand the meaning of impermanence, all clinging falls away. When clinging falls away, the heart is light. When the heart is light, the mind is free.”
“I sing because I cannot remember a time before I sang. The practice has eaten my life. The life has eaten the practice. There is no separation.”
“All the suffering in the world comes from seeking pleasure for oneself. All the happiness in the world comes from seeking pleasure for others.”
“If a problem can be solved, why worry? If a problem cannot be solved, what is the use of worrying?”
“May I be a guard for those who are protectorless, a guide for those who journey on the road. For those who wish to go across the water, may I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.”
“Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment, I know this is the only moment.”
“Smile, breathe, and go slowly.”
“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment.”
“Maitri begins with the simple, radical act of being kind to yourself.”
“Tonglen reverses the usual logic of avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure. In the process, we become liberated from a very ancient prison of selfishness.”
“There is a Tibetan word, shenpa. It means hooked. The moment you notice the hook — that noticing is freedom.”
“The way out is the way in. The only way out is through.”
“A person is a person through other people. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.”
“Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?”
“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”
“A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good. They have a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing they belong in a greater whole.”
“We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected.”
“To say nothing is also a position, but in Ubuntu thought, silence is collusion.”
“There can be no future without forgiveness — and no forgiveness without truth.”
“I am because we are. Without you, I am not.”