Quotes from Matthieu Ricard

We deal with our mind from morning till evening, and it can be our best friend or our worst enemy.

Negative emotions like hatred destroy our peace of mind.

Happiness is a skill, emotional balance is a skill, compassion and altruism are skills, and like any skill they need to be developed. That's what education is about.

The basic root of happiness lies in our minds; outer circumstances are nothing more than adverse or favourable.

Authentic happiness is not linked to an activity, it is a state of being.

Happiness is a state of inner fulfillment, not the gratification of inexhaustible desires for outward things.

Isn't it the mind that translates the outer condition into happiness and suffering?

Happiness is a state of inner fulfillment.

That's what Buddhism has been trying to unravel - the mechanism of happiness and suffering. It is a science of the mind.

Enlightenment is eliminating mental confusion, eliminating hatred, jealousy, mental toxins, cravings. That's very simple and straightforward. Whether you can do it or not is another matter.

Envy and jealousy stem from the fundamental inability to rejoice at someone else's happiness or success

We must distinguish between spirituality in general terms, which aims to make us better people, and religion. Adopting a religion remains optional, but becoming a better human being is essential.

I got really involved in science research and the science of meditation.

If you don't have altruism, inner strength, inner peace, attention, then it's a trauma. It makes a difficult life for you and for others.

You should really stop worrying, develop the real wish to live and with a good motivation, [such as] "I have a better life and I can put that life at the benefit of others."

Empathy is the faculty to resonate with the feelings of others. When we meet someone who is joyful, we smile. When we witness someone in pain, we suffer in resonance with his or her suffering.

We do all kinds of things to remain beautiful. Yet, we spend surprisingly little time taking care of what matters most - the way our mind functions.

There is a dilemma, to reconcile three time scales: in the short term, the economy; in the middle range, global well-being generally; and, in the long range, the environment.

We cannot study everything at the same time.

To love oneself is to love life. It is essential to understand that we make ourselves happy in making others happy.

We try to fix the outside so much, but our control of the outer world is limited, temporary, and often, illusory.

Meditation is not just blissing out under a mango tree. It completely changes your brain and therefore changes what you are.

Happiness is a state of inner fulfillment, not the gratification of inexhaustible desires for outward things.

There is a possibility for change because all emotions are fleeting.