The Buddha quotes
The Buddha: Indian spiritual teacher, founder of Buddhism. The library holds 276 quotes by The Buddha, drawn from Dhammapada. The 60 below are the most quoted; search the library in the maker for the rest.
Often about: life, nature, happiness, wisdom, faith, knowledge
The best-known The Buddha quotes
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Like a beautiful flower, full of colour, but without scent, are the fine but fruitless words of him who does not act accordingly.
Dhammapada, v. 51 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Men who have not observed proper discipline, and have not gained treasure in their youth, perish like old herons in a lake without fish.
Dhammapada, v. 155 · translated by F. Max Müller -
As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind.
Dhammapada, v. 13 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule.
Dhammapada, v. 5 · translated by F. Max Müller -
There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed.
Dhammapada, v. 251 · translated by F. Max Müller -
By rousing himself, by earnestness, by restraint and control, the wise man may make for himself an island which no flood can overwhelm.
Dhammapada, v. 25 · translated by F. Max Müller -
A man who has learnt little, grows old like an ox; his flesh grows, but his knowledge does not grow.
Dhammapada, v. 152 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He who formerly was reckless and afterwards became sober, brightens up this world, like the moon when freed from clouds.
Dhammapada, v. 172 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Let a man overcome anger by love, let him overcome evil by good; let him overcome the greedy by liberality, the liar by truth!
Dhammapada, v. 223 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Through zeal knowledge is gotten, through lack of zeal knowledge is lost; let a man who knows this double path of gain and loss thus place himself that knowledge may grow.
Dhammapada, v. 282 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Wise people, after they have listened to the laws, become serene, like a deep, smooth, and still lake.
Dhammapada, v. 82 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Better it would be to swallow a heated iron ball, like flaring fire, than that a bad unrestrained fellow should live on the charity of the land.
Dhammapada, v. 308 · translated by F. Max Müller -
A man is not a mendicant simply because he asks others for alms; he who adopts the whole law is a Bhikshu, not he who only begs.
Dhammapada, v. 266 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He who holds back rising anger like a rolling chariot, him I call a real driver; other people are but holding the reins.
Dhammapada, v. 222 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Is there in this world any man so restrained by humility that he does not mind reproof, as a well-trained horse the whip?
Dhammapada, v. 143 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Pleasures destroy the foolish, if they look not for the other shore; the foolish by his thirst for pleasures destroys himself, as if he were his own enemy.
Dhammapada, v. 355 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He who drinks in the law lives happily with a serene mind: the sage rejoices always in the law, as preached by the elect.
Dhammapada, v. 79 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He who is thoughtful, blameless, settled, dutiful, without passions, and who has attained the highest end, him I call indeed a Brahmana.
Dhammapada, v. 386 · translated by F. Max Müller -
As a cowherd with his staff drives his cows into the stable, so do Age and Death drive the life of men.
Dhammapada, v. 135 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He whose thirst running towards pleasure is exceeding strong in the thirty-six channels, the waves will carry away that misguided man, viz. his desires which are set on passion.
Dhammapada, v. 339 · translated by F. Max Müller -
A true Brahmana goes scatheless, though he have killed father and mother, and two valiant kings, though he has destroyed a kingdom with all its subjects.
Dhammapada, v. 294 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Let a fool month after month eat his food with the tip of a blade of Kusa grass, yet he is not worth the sixteenth particle of those who have well weighed the law.
Dhammapada, v. 70 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Pleasant in the world is the state of a mother, pleasant the state of a father, pleasant the state of a Samana, pleasant the state of a Brahmana.
Dhammapada, v. 332 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Let each man direct himself first to what is proper, then let him teach others; thus a wise man will not suffer.
Dhammapada, v. 158 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Follow the law of virtue; do not follow that of sin. The virtuous rests in bliss in this world and in the next.
Dhammapada, v. 169 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Not the perversities of others, not their sins of commission or omission, but his own misdeeds and negligences should a sage take notice of.
Dhammapada, v. 50 · translated by F. Max Müller -
What ought to be done is neglected, what ought not to be done is done; the desires of unruly, thoughtless people are always increasing.
Dhammapada, v. 292 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He who gives himself to vanity, and does not give himself to meditation, forgetting the real aim and grasping at pleasure, will in time envy him who has exerted himself in meditation.
Dhammapada, v. 209 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He whom no desire with its snares and poisons can lead astray, by what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the trackless?
Dhammapada, v. 180 · translated by F. Max Müller -
The evil done by oneself, self-begotten, self-bred, crushes the foolish, as a diamond breaks a precious stone.
Dhammapada, v. 161 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Whomsoever this fierce thirst overcomes, full of poison, in this world, his sufferings increase like the abounding Birana grass.
Dhammapada, v. 335 · translated by F. Max Müller -
No, that deed is well done of which a man does not repent, and the reward of which he receives gladly and cheerfully.
Dhammapada, v. 68 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise, who, though young and strong, is full of sloth, whose will and thought are weak, that lazy and idle man will never find the way to knowledge.
Dhammapada, v. 280 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He who wishes to put on the yellow dress without having cleansed himself from sin, who disregards temperance and truth, is unworthy of the yellow dress.
Dhammapada, v. 9 · translated by F. Max Müller -
An evil deed, like newly-drawn milk, does not turn; smouldering, like fire covered by ashes, it follows the fool.
Dhammapada, v. 71 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He who always quiets the evil, whether small or large, he is called a Samana, because he has quieted all evil.
Dhammapada, v. 265 · translated by F. Max Müller -
The Bhikshu whose body and tongue and mind are quieted, who is collected, and has rejected the baits of the world, he is called quiet.
Dhammapada, v. 378 · translated by F. Max Müller -
A Bhikshu who delights in reflection, who looks with fear on thoughtlessness, cannot fall away—he is close upon Nirvana.
Dhammapada, v. 32 · translated by F. Max Müller -
The world does not know that we must all come to an end here; but those who know it, their quarrels cease at once.
Dhammapada, v. 6 · translated by F. Max Müller -
There is no suffering for him who has finished his journey, and abandoned grief, who has freed himself on all sides, and thrown off all fetters.
Dhammapada, v. 90 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He who lives without looking for pleasures, his senses well controlled, moderate in his food, faithful and strong, him Mara will certainly not overthrow, any more than the wind throws down a rocky mountain.
Dhammapada, v. 8 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Not a mother, not a father will do so much, nor any other relative; a well-directed mind will do us greater service.
Dhammapada, v. 43 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Fools of little understanding have themselves for their greatest enemies, for they do evil deeds which must bear bitter fruits.
Dhammapada, v. 66 · translated by F. Max Müller -
There is no path through the air, a man is not a Samana by outward acts. No creatures are eternal; but the awakened are never shaken.
Dhammapada, v. 255 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Mean is the scent that comes from Tagara and sandal-wood; the perfume of those who possess virtue rises up to the gods as the highest.
Dhammapada, v. 56 · translated by F. Max Müller -
As a fish taken from his watery home and thrown on dry ground, our thought trembles all over in order to escape the dominion of Mara.
Dhammapada, v. 34 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Sons are no help, nor a father, nor relations; there is no help from kinsfolk for one whom death has seized.
Dhammapada, v. 288 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He alone who, without ceasing, practises the duty of sitting alone and sleeping alone, he, subduing himself, will rejoice in the destruction of all desires alone, as if living in a forest.
Dhammapada, v. 305 · translated by F. Max Müller -
“One is the road that leads to wealth, another the road that leads to Nirvana;” if the Bhikshu, the disciple of Buddha, has learnt this, he will not yearn for honour, he will strive after separation from the world.
Dhammapada, v. 75 · translated by F. Max Müller -
As the impurity which springs from the iron, when it springs from it, destroys it; thus do a transgressor’s own works lead him to the evil path.
Dhammapada, v. 240 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Not to blame, not to strike, to live restrained under the law, to be moderate in eating, to sleep and sit alone, and to dwell on the highest thoughts, this is the teaching of the Awakened.
Dhammapada, v. 185 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Four things does a wreckless man gain who covets his neighbour’s wife, a bad reputation, an uncomfortable bed, thirdly, punishment, and lastly, hell.
Dhammapada, v. 309 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Not by tonsure does an undisciplined man who speaks falsehood become a Samana; can a man be a Samana who is still held captive by desire and greediness?
Dhammapada, v. 264 · translated by F. Max Müller -
He who dwells in the law, delights in the law, meditates on the law, follows the law, that Bhikshu will never fall away from the true law.
Dhammapada, v. 364 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Happy is the arising of the awakened, happy is the teaching of the True Law, happy is peace in the church, happy is the devotion of those who are at peace.
Dhammapada, v. 194 · translated by F. Max Müller -
The Bhikshu, full of delight, who is calm in the doctrine of Buddha will reach the quiet place, cessation of natural desires, and happiness.
Dhammapada, v. 381 · translated by F. Max Müller -
The thoughtless man, even if he can recite a large portion, but is not a doer of it, has no share in the priesthood, but is like a cowherd counting the cows of others.
Dhammapada, v. 19 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Let the wise man guard his thoughts, for they are difficult to perceive, very artful, and they rush wherever they list: thoughts well guarded bring happiness.
Dhammapada, v. 36 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Self is the lord of self, self is the refuge of self; therefore curb thyself as the merchant curbs a good horse.
Dhammapada, v. 380 · translated by F. Max Müller -
Let us live happily then, though we call nothing our own! We shall be like the bright gods, feeding on happiness!
Dhammapada, v. 200 · translated by F. Max Müller