Quotes About Wisdom

Sustainable happiness is not the absence of problems. As Nichiren writes: "Though worldly troubles may arise, never let them disturb you. No one can avoid problems, not even sages or worthies.

Buddhist practice is about developing character. And relationships are the forum, the classroom, in which we learn how.

Nothing in the world is difficult," said the Patriarch, "it is only our own thoughts that make things seem so.

Education is like a double-edged sword. It may be turned to dangerous uses if it is not properly handled.

The path that one person follows is not the correct path for any other person. Each of us must walk his own path to enlightenment— that is the way.

The master sees beyond what is obvious. He sees the unseen, feels the unfelt, and hears the unheard. He looks below the surface for what is hidden and so finds the great heartbeat of the Universe. He smiles, knowing it is his heartbeat, your heartbeat, our heartbeat.

A person who speaks as if he knows everything soon drives away his listeners. The Universe communicates itself to us in many ways, and sometimes, it is through the words of others. If we act the know-it-all, others may refrain from talking to us, and we may fail to get the message they could have given us.

All my life I have been surrounded by things I'd rather not know too much about, so I have come to feel that truth made naked without purpose is really a wanton.

A hundred things are done today in the divine name of Youth, that if they showed their true colors would be seen by rights to belong rather to old age.

To ask the hard question is simple.

I have often repented speaking, but never of holding my tongue.

Go away, you give philosophy nothing to catch hold of.

If the ox could think, it would attribute oxality to God.

It takes a wise man to recognize a wise man.

No human being will ever know the Truth, for even if they happen to say it by chance, they would not even known they had done so.

No human being will ever know the truth, for even if they happened to say it by chance, they would not know they had done so.

The oldest and wisest of human communities show most respect to the gods, and are most careful of their worship.

When the interests of mankind are at stake, they will obey with joy the man whom they believe to be wiser than themselves.

It is only for those to employ force who possess strength without judgment; but the well advised will have recourse to other means.

During the long process of history, by relying on our own diligence, courage and wisdom, Chinese people have opened up a good and beautiful home where all ethnic groups live in harmony and fostered an excellent culture that never fades.

bu wen bu rou wen zi, wen zi bu ruo jian zhi. jian zhi bu ruo zhi zi, zhi zi bu ruo xing zi. Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. But involve me, I will understand. XUN ZI (PHILOSOPHER, WARRING STATES PERIOD, 475–221 BC)

Maybe I should let my life open, like a flower; maybe I should fly, like a lonely bird. I shouldn't be blocked by a tree, and I shouldn't be scared about losing one tree, instead of seeing a whole forest.

The road home is a long one. As I walk this road, I recall my grandmother's words: "Everyone has a past life, a future life and a present life.

Huizi barely called anyone. He didn't get too involved with the details of his friends' lives. He was private, shut tight like a fortress. His short crew-cut and refined manners gave him the air of a Buddhist monk. Huizi would say never look back to the past. Never regret. Even if there is emptiness ahead, never look back.