Quotes from Thích Nh?t H?nh

A foolish man clings to wrong views, mocks the teaching of the righteous, and invites ruin and destruction.

As you will see, mindfulness practice does not need to be another "add-on." Its beauty lies in the fact that it can be fully and easily integrated into every act of our daily living, reminding us to live the present moment fully.

The original reality of Amitabha is our own Dharma body, It shines out brightly everywhere, in the South, North, East, and West, It is like the autumn moon that lies in the high, vast sky, In the silence of the night its brilliance shines far over the ocean.

Unwholesome action, hurting self, comes easily. Wholesome action, healing self, takes effort.

Let one mold himself in accordance with the precepts he teachers.

We ought to listen to music or sit and practice breathing at the beginning of every meeting or discussion.

The virtuous mind themselves.

Angry words backfire upon the speaker.

In Asia, when people kiss each other they use the nose more than the mouth. Using the nose, we can recognize the person; it's so pleasant.

Mindfulness is the capacity to shine the light of awareness onto what's going on here and now. Mindfulness is the heart of meditation practice.

The person who suffers most in this world is the person who has many wrong perceptions, and most of our perceptions are erroneous.

EMBRACING SUFFERING If we let the suffering come up and just take over our mind, we can be quickly overwhelmed by it.

As the pot slowly fills up with water, drop by drop, so does the fool, little by little, become evil.

The amassing of evil brings misery. The accumulation of good brings blessings.

Whoever neglects doing good is inviting addiction to evil.

A single wise word bringing peace to the listener is worth more than a thousand speeches of empty words.

The good certainly cling to nothing. They do not talk aimlessly, concerned with personal gains. The wise, whether experiencing comfort or discomfort, show neither elation not depression.

Wise men mold their own character.

Unwholesome acts cannot bring wholesome results. The things a fool gains amount to nothing.

We must lead all beings to the shore of awakening, but, after these beings have become liberated, we do not, in truth, think that a single being has been liberated.

For dialogue to be fruitful, we need to live deeply our own tradition and, at the same time, listen deeply to others. Through the practice of deep looking and deep listening, we become free, able to see the beauty and values in our own and others' tradition.

Do not be concerned with what others have or have not done. Observe your own actions and inactions.

This is Buddhist meditation-to penetrate, to be one with, in order to really understand.

Love is the capacity to take care, to protect, to nourish. If you are not capable of generating that kind of energy toward yourself — if you are not capable of taking care of yourself, of nourishing yourself, of protecting yourself — it is very difficult to take care of another person.