Quotes from Thích Nh?t H?nh

Happiness is impermanent, like everything else. In order for happiness to be extended and renewed, you have to learn how to feed your happiness. Nothing can survive without food, including happiness; your happiness can die if you don't know how to nourish it. If you cut a flower but you don't put it in some water, the flower will wilt in a few hours. Even if happiness is already manifesting, we have to continue to nourish it.

In the light of Buddhist meditation, love is impossible without understanding.

If we practice stopping while attending to e-mails, surfing the Web, attending meetings or appointments, folding the laundry, washing the dishes, or taking a shower, we are living deeply.

Harboring thoughts keeps hatred alive.

Each moment you are alive is a gem, shining through and containing earth and sky, water and clouds. It needs you to breathe gently for the miracles to be displayed. Suddenly you hear the birds singing, the pines chanting, see the flowers blooming, the blue sky, the white clouds....

Nothing can heal anger except compassion.

I vow to live each moment fully and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.

Mindful eating means simply eating or drinking while being aware of each bite or sip.

Training is needed in order to love properly; and to be able to give happiness and joy, you must practice deep looking directed toward the person you love. Because if you do not understand this person, you cannot love properly.

In modern life, people tend to think their bodies belong to them, that they can do anything they want to themselves. But your body is not only yours. Your body belongs to your ancestors, your parents, and future generations. It also belongs to society and to all the other living beings. The trees, the clouds, the soil, and every living thing brought about the presence of your body. We can eat with care, knowing we are caretakers of our bodies, rather than their owners.

Dear master, I think it would be better for each of us to watch ourself. To look after oneself means to look after both of us. That way I am sure we will avoid any accidents and will earn enough to eat.' " The Buddha said: "The child spoke correctly.

The present moment contains the whole of life.

It's like when you're flying in an airplane. Whenever severe turbulence comes along, the seatbelt keeps you from getting thrown around the cabin. Mindful breathing is your seatbelt in everyday life—it keeps you safe here in the present moment. If you know how to breathe, how to sit calmly and quietly, how to do walking meditation, then you have your seatbelt and you're always safe.

It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they are not.

When you walk, arrive with every step. That is walking meditation. There's nothing else to it.

Compassion is not an idea or something we can imagine. It is a mental formation that has an immediate result in action of body, speech, or mind. It is rooted in understanding. When we understand why we suffer we can be compassionate to ourselves. When we understand how others suffer then we can be compassionate to them.

This is, because that is. This is not, because that is not. This is born, because that is born. This dies, because that dies.

We can no longer be deluded by the notion that the destruction of others' lives is necessary for our own survival.

The best way of preparing for the future is to take good care of the present, because we know that if the present is made up of the past, then the future will be made up of the present. All we need to be responsible for is the present moment. Only the present is within our reach. To care for the present is to care for the future.

To fully experience this life as a human being, we all need to connect with our desire to realize something larger than our individual selves.

This brings her a lot of joy and gives her life meaning. This can be true for all of us anytime, anywhere. Just saying a few words that make another person suffer less can give our lives meaning. And it is something we can do anywhere. When your life is meaningful, happiness becomes a reality and you become a bodhisattva right here and now.

In a family, if there is one person who practices mindfulness, the entire family will be more mindful. Because of the presence of one member who lives in mindfulness, the entire family is reminded to live in mindfulness. If in one class, one student lives in mindfulness, the entire class is influenced.

You are capable of coming back to your best and highest self, but you must maintain this practice. Don't allow yourself to get distracted and forget to practice. Practice regularly, daily, with the support of your family, friends, and community—this is diligence.

Our presence here means the presence of all our ancestors. They are still alive in us. Every time we smile, all the generations of our ancestors, our children, and the generations to come—all of whom are within us—smile too. We practice not just for ourselves, but for everyone, and the stream of life continues.