Your favorite Buddha Quotes

[Troy]

A man once told the Buddha "I want happiness". The Buddha replied first remove "I" that's ego. Then remove "want" that's desire and now all you're left with is "happiness".

I am not sure it actually quotes Buddha, but I like it. What are your favorite quotes? It does not necessarily have to be a Buddha or even Buddhist quote as long as it fits the spirit of Buddhism. If you know the author please include that too.

[Hans]

Hello,

my favourite Buddha quotes are usually those with a direct link to the actual source in the different Buddhist canons But that's just the intellectual level, deep within my heart I like quotes that speak truth, no matter whose mouth utters it, it is as precious as golden ore.

Gassho, Hans Chudo Mongen

[Troy]

Hello,

my favourite Buddha quotes are usually those with a direct link to the actual source in the different Buddhist canons But that's just the intellectual level, deep within my heart I like quotes that speak truth, no matter whose mouth utters it, it is as precious as golden ore.

Gassho, Hans Chudo Mongen

Beautifully said Hans :-) Here is one I like from the Dhammapada. It is verse 100

"Better than a speech of a thousand vain words is one thoughtful word which brings peace to the mind.”

[Heion]

Here is a link to all of the confirmed Buddha quotes (it also has a section where it exposes the fakes):

http://www.fakebuddhaquotes.com/real-buddha-quotes/

My favorite real quotes are:
All conditioned things are impermanent” — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.
Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.(from the Dhammapada)

Of course, wisdom is not limited to only the Buddha so I have many, many other quotes I love.

My motto for life: Discipline is freedom.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.- Helen Keller

"The only real failure in life is to not be true to the best one knows." -Frederic William Farrar (wrongly attributed to the Buddha)

"In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher." - The Dalai Lama

I can go on and on, but it is getting quite late here so I want to sleep soon!

Fun thread,
Alex

[Troy]

"Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." - Nathaniel Hawthorne (American author and Transcendentalist)

[Victor Chu]

“Now, Kalamas, don’t go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, ‘This contemplative is our teacher.’ When you know for yourselves that, ‘These qualities are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are praised by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to welfare & to happiness’ — then you should enter & remain in them.

[Jundo]

A man once told the Buddha "I want happiness". The Buddha replied first remove "I" that's ego. Then remove "want" that's desire and now all you're left with is "happiness".

I am not sure it actually quotes Buddha, but I like it. What are your favorite quotes? It does not necessarily have to be a Buddha or even Buddhist quote as long as it fits the spirit of Buddhism. If you know the author please include that too.

Whether something is literally the "Word of the Buddha" does not matter so much if conveying the heart of the Buddha. If it were not so, most of the Mahayana Sutras purporting to be the "Word of the Buddha", but written hundreds of years after he had kicked the bucket, would not be worth the paper they are inked on.

We did have a recent discussion of how this word "Happiness" in Buddhist contexts is a bit more subtle in meaning ...

The Tibetans tend to speak of "Happiness" quite a bit in their books and talks ... but when looked at closely, it is much the same as the subtle Joy and Peace that we speak of in the Zen corner of the woods ... a Joy that holds comfortably the happy times and sad times, a Peace that is wholly all life's many pieces.

More here

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?12016-How-to-Achieve-Happiness&p=123012&viewfull=1#post123012

There is a lovely website which collects "fake Buddha quotes". Some that are frequently seen around the internet or on bumper stickers are just something the Buddha would not be caught saying ...

http://www.fakebuddhaquotes.com/

Gassho, J

[Jishin]

I like "Happiness is an inside job." Not sure where it comes from.

Gassho
Jishin

[Troy]

Your favorite Buddha Quotes

We did have a recent discussion of how this word "Happiness" in Buddhist contexts is sometimes a bit more subtle in meaning ...

I missed that thread originally. I just read it and there were a lot of great comments. There are so many wise people here :-) I like what you said about happiness being more of a subtle peace and joy that holds us during our ups and downs.

An expectation that our practice can some how give us a constant state of happiness would cause disappointment and confusion when it did not happen. It would cause us frustration and we would waste a lot of time grasping for that delusion in our practice. When we drop the I (the idea of a separate self) and our desires (clinging to delusions like having a constant state of happiness) we find happiness (the subtle joy and peace that comes with accepting all life brings us). Perhaps this is a better explanation of the quote?

[Troy]

Your favorite Buddha Quotes

Has anyone ever made up their own quotes? Please share if you're in to that kind of stuff Here is one I thought of yesterday:

Life is like sweet and sour sauce. It is full of both the sweet and the sour, but when we let it settle on our palate it sure is delicious.

(ok maybe a little silly but I kind of liked it)

[Jundo]

Has anyone ever made up their own quotes? Please share if you're in to that kind of stuff Here is one I thought of yesterday:

Life is like sweet and sour sauce. It is full of both the sweet and the sour, but when we let it settle on our palate it sure is delicious.

(ok maybe a little silly but I kind of liked it)

Yummy.

Gassho, J

[Myosha]

“People with opinions just go around bothering each other.”

Sutta Nipata (Pali Canon)


Gassho,
Myosha

[Joyo]

There is something about the poet Rumi that speaks to my heart. I could share so many of his words, but here's the one that came to my mind first...

"Out beyond the field of right doings and wrong doings, there is a field. I will meet you there" Rumi

As for the Buddha, again, so many to choose from. Here's the one of my favourites..

"Happiness does not depend on what you have, or who you are, it solely relies on what you think" Buddha

Gassho,
Joyo