The best and wisest Buddha quotes (200 quotes)

Buddha taught us how to achieve enlightenment to get out of our own immaturity. When we become enlightened, we use our own understanding of ourselves for personal growth.

Today we will try to get an idea of what it is like to live as a person who has received enlightenment through the Buddha's insightful sayings about life, death and everything in between.

We have collected 81 Buddha quotes on the topics of happiness, love and compassion, peace, anger, life, death, change, wisdom and action.

Quotes

What we are today is a consequence of our yesterday's thoughts, and today's thoughts create tomorrow's life. Life is a creation of our mind.
- Do not kill, take care of the life of all living things. - Don’t steal, don’t rob, don’t rob people of the product of their labor. - Be chaste both in thoughts and in life. - Do not lie; speak the truth when necessary, fearlessly but lovingly. - Don’t say bad things about people and don’t repeat the bad things they say about people. - Don't swear. - Don’t waste time on empty speeches, but speak up or be silent. - Do not be selfish and do not envy, but rejoice in the good of your neighbor. - Cleanse your heart of malice, hate no one and love everyone. - Conquer rage with love, respond with good to evil, conquer stinginess with generosity, conquer a liar with the word of truth.
“He scolded me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me” - in those who harbor such thoughts, hatred is not pacified.
The greatest prayer is patience. The best prayer is patience.
The good ones shine from afar, like the Himalayan mountains. The evil ones are not visible even close, just as arrows fired at night are not visible.
Be gentle with the young, compassionate with the elderly, tolerant of the weak and erring. At some point in your life you will be or have been each of them.
There are many teachings in the world, but no teachings will help the one who has shackled himself.
Your mind is everything. You become what you think.
Your suffering is caused by your resistance to what is.
After all, some people don’t know that we are destined to die here. Those who know this immediately stop quarrels.
The whole secret of existence is to get rid of fears. Don’t be afraid of what will happen to you, your future will not change, but your present will become calm.
Look at this decorated image, at a body full of flaws, made up of parts, painful, filled with many thoughts in which there is neither certainty nor constancy.
For the sake of the ideals of goodness and purity, the Bodhisattva should refrain from eating the flesh of slain animals born from semen, blood, and the like. In order to avoid frightening animals and freeing them from the shackles of horror, a Bodhisattva who strives to gain compassion should not eat the flesh of living beings...
You all go towards the truth along different paths, and I stand at the crossroads and wait for you...
All living things are afraid of torment, all living things are afraid of death; recognize yourself not only in man, but in every living creature, do not kill and do not cause suffering and death. Every living thing wants the same thing as you; understand yourself in every living being.
Everything we are is the result of our thoughts.
Any increased attachment to everything earthly is suffering.
You are your own teacher.
You yourself, like no one else in the entire universe, deserve your love and devotion.
Woe to the ignorant and weak creation, whose mind is intoxicated with the pride of youth and does not see old age!
Even a shower of gold coins will not satisfy your passions. He is wise who knows: passions are painful and there is little joy in them.
Even an intelligent person will become stupid if he does not improve himself.
You don't have to be afraid of wild animals, you need to be afraid of a bad friend. For a wild beast only wounds the body, but a bad friend wounds the soul.
Benevolence towards all beings is true religiosity.
Thinking that someone else can make you happy or unhappy is simply ridiculous.
If someone in a battle defeated a thousand people a thousand times, and another defeated himself alone, then it is this other who is the greatest winner in the battle.
If you want to know what you did in a past life, look at your current state. If you want to know your future, look at your actions today.
If the hand is not wounded, you can carry the poison in your hand. Poison will not harm someone who has no wounds. He who does not do evil himself is not subject to evil.
If a wanderer does not meet someone like himself or better, let him strengthen himself in solitude: there is no friendship with a fool.
Live in harmony. Don't look for her outside. Don't look outside for what can only be in your heart. Often we may look outside ourselves only to distract ourselves from the true reality. The truth is that harmony can only be found within yourself. Harmony is not a new job or a new marriage; Harmony is peace in the soul, and it starts with you.
Life is suffering. Suffering has a reason. Suffering can be stopped. There is a way to stop suffering.
Life with its phenomena can be likened to a dream, a phantom, a bubble, a shadow, a glint of dew or a flash of lightning, and it should be imagined just like that.
And there was not, and there will not be, and now there is no person who is worthy only of blame or only praise.
Go, look at this world, like a colorful royal chariot! Where fools flounder, the wise have no attachment.
Every morning we are born again. And what we do today will be of greatest importance.
Just as rain seeps into a house with a thin roof, so lust seeps into a poorly developed mind.
Just as a tree, although torn out, continues to grow if its root is intact and strong, so suffering is born again and again if the tendency to desire is not eradicated.
Whoever conquers this unfortunate, difficult-to-conquer desire in this world, his sorrows disappear, like a drop of water from a lotus leaf.
Those who do not understand their past are forced to relive it again.
Whoever restrains awakened anger, like a chariot that has gone astray, I call him a charioteer; the rest simply hold the reins.

... And you love - and you will be honored!

We all experience emotional distress, our hearts are broken, and we feel frustrated. And it's okay to be sad. We are not machines, and the goal is not to bottle up our emotions.

However, we can always choose whether to accept a situation and move through it or suffer. Instead of judging and blaming others, let's be compassionate and spread love.

Through love we can move mountains. Once you begin to show more love to your fellow human beings, you will realize how more and more love comes back to you.

Statements

Whoever looks at the world as they look at a bubble, as they look at a mirage, is not seen by the king of death.
He who, having previously been frivolous, then becomes serious, illuminates this world like the moon freed from clouds.
It is easy to live for someone who is as impudent as a crow, impudent, obsessive, reckless, spoiled. But it is difficult to live for someone who is modest, who always seeks what is pure, who is impartial, cool-headed, perspicacious, whose life is pure...
It is easy to see the sins of others, but on the contrary, it is difficult to see your own. For the sins of others are scattered away like chaff; theirs, on the contrary, hides an unlucky bone like a skillful sharper.
It will be better if, instead of a thousand words, you find one, but one that instills Peace. It will be better if, instead of thousands of verses, you find one, but one that shows Beauty. It will be better if, instead of thousands of songs, you find one, but one that gives Joy.
It's better to live alone. There is no friendship with a fool. You who have few desires, go alone and do no evil, like an elephant in an elephant forest.
Love, the liberator of the mind, contains everything within itself, shining, sparkling and radiating.
Many people are vicious, and I will endure insults like an elephant in battle - an arrow shot from a bow.
Don't believe everything they tell you.
Don't believe anything, no matter where you read it, or who said it, even if I said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
Do not do pleasant things, because parting with pleasant things is painful. There are no bonds for those who have no pleasant or unpleasant.
Don't trust what you hear; do not trust traditions, as they have been passed on from generation to generation; do not trust anything if it is rumor or majority opinion; do not trust if it is only a record of the saying of some old sage; don't trust guesses; do not trust what you consider to be true, what you are accustomed to; do not trust only the naked authority of your teachers and elders. After observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason and promotes the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live according to it.
It is not life, nor wealth, nor power that makes a slave out of a person, but only his attachment to life, wealth and power.
Do not envy other people's good qualities, but instill them in yourself through admiration.
Do not linger in the past, do not dream about the future, focus your mind completely on the present moment.
Do not return evil for evil, otherwise there will be no end to evil. In response to an insult, kiss your enemy, and it will hurt him much more.
It’s not because he’s older that his head is gray. He is at an advanced age, but they call him “grown old in vain.”
It is not because man is superior to other beings that he heartlessly torments them, but because he is compassionate towards all living things.
Do not take anything for granted simply because of tradition, even though it has been highly revered by many generations and in different places. Don't believe anything because many people say it. Do not blindly worship the faith of the sages of the past. Do not believe what you have created in your imagination, convincing yourself that it is a divine revelation. Do not believe anything simply on the authority of your mentors or confessors. After research, believe only what you yourself have tested and found valid, and only then align your behavior with it.
Do not cause to others anything that could be the cause of your suffering.
Few people reach the opposite shore. The rest of the people are just fussing about on the local shore.
Hate cannot overcome hatred. Only love can overcome hatred. This is an eternal law.
There is no greater error than hatred, And there is nothing greater than patience. Therefore, I strive always and everywhere to Learn patience.
There is no happiness equal to peace.
Neither on earth, nor in the sky, nor in the ocean, nor in the mountains can one find a place where death cannot defeat a person.
No one saves us except ourselves, no one has the right and no one is able to do this. We ourselves must walk the path, but the words of the Buddha will clearly show it.
One day of a wise and meditative person is truly better than a hundred years of a person who has neither wisdom nor self-control.
One of the most useful life skills is the ability to quickly forget everything bad: don’t dwell on troubles, don’t live with grievances, don’t revel in irritation, don’t harbor anger... You shouldn’t drag various rubbish into your soul.
One useful word, upon hearing which one becomes calm, is better than a thousand speeches made up of useless words.
He finds no satisfaction even in heavenly pleasures. A fully enlightened disciple rejoices only in the destruction of desire.
Free your heart from anger, for never in this world is hatred destroyed by hatred, but by the absence of hatred it is destroyed.
Always respond only with kindness, this is the only way to make this world a better place. Respond kindly or don’t respond at all. If you return evil for evil, then the evil becomes greater.
Victory breeds hatred; the vanquished live in sorrow. The calm person who has renounced victory and defeat lives in happiness. (The winner is hated, the defeated is plunged into sorrow. He who rejects both victory and defeat lives in happiness and peace.)
Conquer yourself and you will win thousands of battles.
Question everything. Find your own light.
He who devotes himself to vanity and does not devote himself to reflection, who has forgotten the goal, who clings to pleasure, envies the self-absorbed.
Before straightening the hunchback, do something more difficult - straighten your shoulders.
It is pleasant to look at the noble ones; being in their company is a blessing. May he who does not see fools always be happy.
Continuing to be angry is like picking up a hot coal with the intention of throwing it at someone; It is you who will get burned.

Aphorisms

Let the sage, through effort, seriousness, self-restraint and self-restraint, create an island that cannot be crushed by the flood.
Let him give up anger, let him give up complacency, let him overcome all attachments. No misfortune befalls one who is not attached to name and form.
Let him hasten to do good; let him keep his mind from evil. For the mind of one who does not hasten to do good finds pleasure in evil.
Let him look not at the mistakes of others, at what others have done and not done, but at what he himself has done and not done.
No matter how many wise words you read, no matter how many you say, what good are they to you if you don’t put them into practice?
It is not the occurrence of thoughts that should be feared, but the delay in recognizing them.
Words have power and can both destroy and heal. Correct and kind words can change our world.
Property is not things, but thoughts. You can have things and not be the owner.
Peace is within you. Don't look for it outside.
Canal builders release water, archers subjugate an arrow, carpenters subjugate wood, wise men humble themselves.
There are two truths - about suffering and the occurrence of suffering. The main cause of suffering is the insatiability of human desires. However, these desires do not lead to happiness. They are either unfulfilled, and this brings sadness, or they are fulfilled, and then we are convinced of the ephemeral nature of our happiness, and the fear of loss deprives it of meaning. But we continue to desire again and again, and it is this insatiable thirst that pushes us from one string of suffering to another.
Happiness is not a successful combination of external circumstances. It's just a state of your mind.
Those who humble their thoughts, wandering in the distance, wandering alone, disembodied, hidden in the heart, will be freed.
Patience is the antidote to anger.
Anyone who thinks he can can.
He who sits alone, sleeps alone, wanders alone, he who is active and restrains himself, let him rejoice in the thicket of the forest.
Three things cannot be hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth.
You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.
You only lose what you hold on to.
Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and its life will not be shortened. Happiness does not decrease when you share it.
His thought is calm, his word is calm and his deed is calm. Such a calm and liberated one has perfect knowledge.
A few moments associated with a wise person are enough for an intelligent person to comprehend the true law of life.
Often eloquence obscures the true meaning of words.
A person must avoid extremes, then he will follow the right path.
A person must learn the secrets of life from himself, and not blindly believe in other teachings.
To the person who foolishly causes me harm, I will repay him by protecting him with the most generous love; and the more evil will come from him, the more good will come from me.
What kind of laughter, what kind of joy when the world is constantly burning? Covered in darkness, why don't you seek the light?
What good is a man's eloquence if he does not follow his words?
What good is it if a person tries to show us his majestic appearance when he is empty inside?
To enjoy good health, to create true happiness for your family, to bring peace to all, you must first harness and control your own mind. If a person can control his consciousness, then he can find the path to Enlightenment and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
His feelings are calm, like horses bridled by a driver. He has renounced his pride and is devoid of desires. Even the gods are jealous of this.

And it is obvious that all the sayings of the Buddha will forever remain in the history of mankind.

Who was Buddha?

Only a few details are known about the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the man who later became known throughout the world as the Buddha, or Enlightened One. He was born into a privileged family in a village near modern-day Nepal in the 5th or 6th century.

Buddha

Being a prince by status, he only experienced the difficulties of the outside world when he was about 20 years old. This experience motivated him to set out on a quest for enlightenment (or Nirvana). Having achieved Nirvana, he became known as Buddha.

He passed on his teachings to many so that others could achieve Nirvana.

We present to you the great expressions of the Enlightened One.