A Vast Collection of Quotes

~~~Your comments and additions are welcome. Please feel free to join in.~~~

Each experience does give us deeper arms with which to comfort others who find themselves confronted with a loss.
-Terry

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.
-Rosalynn Carter

It’s important the people should know what you stand for. It’s equally important that they know what you won’t stand for.
-Mary H. Waldrip

The really happy man is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
-Anonymous

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
-Epictetus

Are you humbly grateful? Or grumbly hateful?
-Pastor Roland Smith

In the pursuit of happiness, the difficulty lies in knowing when you have caught up.
-R.H. Grenville

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.
-Ambrose Redmoon

The proverb warns that 'You should not bite the hand that feeds you.' But maybe you should, if it prevents you from feeding yourself.
-Thomas Szasz

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
-Hannah More

Speak when you're angry, and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret.
-Lawrence J. Peter

Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave.
-Rainer Maria Rilke

People must realize that even with all these comforts, all this money and a GNP that increases every year, they are still not happy. They need to understand that the real culprits are our unceasing desires. Our wants have no end.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Imagine All the People"

If you want to improve be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things.
-Epictetus

Life begins on the other side of despair.
-Unknown

A bend in the road is not the end of the road...unless you fail to make the turn.
-Unknown

If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under the radiator.
-W. Beran Wolfe

Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
-Mark Twain

The greater part of our happiness depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.
-Martha Washington

The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise.
-Aiden Nowlan

Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, is it true, does it improve on the silence?
-Sai Baba

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

O let us live in joy, although having nothing! In joy let us live like spirits of light!
-Buddha

Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.
-Charles Spurgeon

Forgiveness means giving up all hope of a better past.
-Landrum Bolling


The first step towards the solution of any problem is optimism.
-John Baines

You miss 100 percent of all the shots you never take.
-Wayne Gretzky

They are happy indeed who own nothing at all;Those with highest knowledge own nothing at all.See how people who own things are afflicted,Bound to others by their obligations.
-Udana 2.6

If you don't have the time to do something right, where are you going to find the time to fix it?
-Stephen King

Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.
-Lady Bird Johnson

Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow".
-Anonymous

Days are scrolls: write on them only what you want remembered.
-Bchya Ibn Pakuda

The supreme happiness of life is the conviction of being loved for yourself, or, more correctly, being loved in spite of yourself.
-Victor Hugo

Climb up on some hill at sunrise. Everybody needs perspective once in a while, and you’ll find it there.
-Robb Sagendorph

He who laughs, lasts.
-Mary Poole

Life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards.
-Soren Kierkegaard

Everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.
-Richard L Evans

If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.
-Catherine Aird

Hey you, expecting results without effort! So sensitive! So long-suffering! You, in the clutches of death, acting like an immortal! Hey sufferer, you are destroying yourself!
-Santideva, Bodhicaryavatara

Creativity is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God.
-Bob Moawad

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing—that's why we recommend it daily.
-Zig Ziglar

Whatever you are, be a good one.
-Abraham Lincoln

Go out into the world today and love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people.
-Mother Teresa

Whatever is not yours, abandon it. When you have abandoned it, that will lead to your welfare and happinesss.
-Buddha, "Connected Discourses of the Buddha"

The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.
-Muhammad Ali

In pursuit of happiness, the difficulty lies in knowing when you have caught up.
-R.H. Grenville

Those who want much, are always much in need.
-Horace

When one teaches, two learn.
-Robert Half

Material shape is not yours,nor are feeling, perception,the constructions or consciousness.These are not yours. Put them away.
-Buddha

The key, during both life and death, is to recognize illusions as illusions, projections as projections, and fantasies as fantasies. In this way we become free.
-Lama Thubten Yeshe, Introduction to Tantra

However innumerable beings are, I vow to save them.
-One of the Four Vows of the Bodhisattva

In Buddhism, the source of moral authority is the causal law. Be kind, be just, be humane, be honest if you desire to crown your future. Dishonesty, cruelty, inhumanity will condemn you to a miserable fall.
-Soyen Shaku

Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.
-Rumi

Unshared joy is an unlighted candle.
-Spanish Proverb

Let us not talk of karma, but simply of responsibility toward the whole world.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Imagine All the People"

Zen is your original face; there is no special Zen to study other than this. And there is nothing to see or hear either—the totality of this seeing and hearing is Zen; outside of Zen, no other seeing or hearing can be found.
-Ming-pen

Overcome your uncertainties and free yourself from dwelling on sorrow. If you delight in existence, you will become a guide to those who need you, revealing the path to many.
-Sutta Nipata

To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.
-Confucius

The man who has no evil cannot be hurt by evil.
-Buddha

Through adversity comes character - through humility comes perspective. From perspective comes the kind of wisdom that tells you that you could always be wrong - always be mistaken - always be ignorant of a truer nature of life ... It gives you a forgiving spirit, and a universal humanity...
-Rik Emmett

Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe.
-Tao Te Ching

A hundred thousand worlds are flowers in the sky, a single mind and body is moonlight in the water; once the cunning ends and information stops, at that moment there is no place for thought.
-Han-Shan Te-Ch'ing in The Clouds Should Know Me By Now

The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your own arm.
-Swedish Proverb

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.
-Erica Jong

If you treat every situation as a life-and-death matter, you’ll die a lot of times.
-Dean Smith

What people expect to happen is always different from what actually happens. From this comes great disappointment; this is the way the world works.
-Sutta Nipata

Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't.
-Richard Bach

Worrying about something that may never happen is like paying interest on money you may never borrow.
-Unknown

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.
-Marie Curie

Better than a thousand useless words is one word that gives peace.
-Buddha

Shakyamuni Buddha said, "Judge not others; judge only yourself." What appear to be faults in others may actually be reflections of our own emotional afflictions.
-Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, in Advice From A Spiritual Friend

Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.
-Ann Landers

If this doctrine is not understood thoroughly,The conception of an I prevails,Hence come virtuous and non-virtuous actionsWhich give rise to good and bad rebirths.Therefore, as long as the doctrine removingThe conception of I is not known,Take heed of the practicesOf giving, ethics, and patience.
-Nagajuna, “Precious Garland”

We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.
-Anne Frank

This is the work of those who are skilled and peaceful, who seek the good:May they be able and upright, straightforward, of gentle speech and not proud.May they be content and easily supported, unburdened, with their senses calmed.May they be wise, not arrogant and without desire for the possessions of others.May they do nothing mean or that the wise would reprove.May all things be happy.May they live in safety and joy.
-Metta Suta

We can do no great things…only small things with great love.
-Mother Teresa

Life's easy to livefor someone unscrupulous,cunning as a crow,corrupt, back-biting,forward, & brash;But for someone who's constantlyscrupulous, cautious,observant, sincere,pure in his livelihood,clean in his pursuits,it's hard.
-Dhammapada, 18, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

If you really want freedom, happiness will ariseFrom happiness will come raptureWhen your mind is enraptured, your body is tranquilWhen your body is tranquil, you will know blissBecause you are blissful, your mind will concentrate easilyBeing concentrated, you will see things as they really areIn so seeing, you will become aware that life is a miracleBeing so aware, you will lose all your attachmentsAs you cease grasping, so you will be freed.
-Digha Nikaya

Put away all hindrances, let your mind full of love pervade one quarter of the world, and so too the second quarter, and so the third, and so the fourth. And thus the whole wide world, above, below, around and everywhere, altogether continue to pervade with love-filled thought, abounding, sublime, beyond measure, free from hatred and ill-will.
-Adapted from the Digha Nikaya

It pays to know the enemy - not least because at some time you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend.
-Margaret Thatcher

When the mind sees this, it will rid itself of attachment which holds that ‘I’ am beautiful, ‘I’ am good, ‘I’ am evil, ‘I’ am suffering, ‘I’ have, ‘I’ this or ‘I’ that. You will experience a state of unity, for you’ll have seen that all of mankind is basically the same. There is no ‘I’. There are only elements.
-Ajahn Chah, “Bodhinyana”

The ultimate test of a man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.
-Gaylord Nelson

Leadership is doing what is right when no one is watching.
-George Van Valkenburg

The best way to knock the chip off your neighbor’s shoulder is to pat him on the back.
-Unknown

Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody, everything, every night before you go to bed.
-Bernard M. Baruch

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out infriendship, never in want.
-Irish toast

If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world.
-Thomas Merton

Everything comes to pass, nothing comes to stay.
-Matthew Flickstein, "Journey To The Center"

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.
-Arthur Rubenstein

It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out – it's the grain of sand in your shoe.
-Robert Service

A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs
--jolted by every pebble in the road.
-Henry Ward Beecher

Old age, to the unlearned, is winter; to the learned, it’s harvest time.
-Yiddish saying

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."

-Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

Be who you are and say what you feel because those
who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
-Dr. Seuss

Change your thoughts, and you change your world.
-Norman Vincent Peale

The world is apprehended by way of the mindThe world is acted upon by way of the mindAnd all good things and badExist in the world by way of the mind.
-Samyutta Nikaya

Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow.
-Mahatma Gandhi

Those who would learn Buddhahood should just break through the seeds of karma by means of the power of great devotion, then recognize cause and effect and be wary of sin and virtue.
-Huai-t’ang

The mind of an enlightened human being is flexible and adaptable. The mind of the ignorant person is conditioned and fixed.
-Ajahn Sumedho, “Seeing the Way”

There are no more hours in a bad day than in a good one!
- Unknown

On the basis of the belief that all human beings share the same divine nature, we have a very strong ground, a very powerful reason, to believe that it is possible for each of us to develop a genuine sense of equanimity toward all beings.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "The Good Heart"

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

The wishbone will never replace the backbone.
- Will Henry

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.
- Booker T. Washington

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
- Mahatma Gandhi

We plant merit with our minds, and we commit crimes with our minds. With our minds, we imprint images. This one mind is like an artist. It can draw anything, and what it draws is realized. If you surrender your impressions, ideas, thoughts, and so on at the moment they arise without imprinting them on your mind, your minds will not be tainted, just as the lotus flower is not tainted by the muddy water whence it grows.
-Jae Woong Kim, "Polishing The Diamond"

To see things in the seed, that is genius.
- Lao-Tzu

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
-The Dalai Lama

Half the game is mental; the other half is being mental.
-Jim McKenny

Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

The giant oak is an acorn that held its ground.
- Anonymous

When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food, and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies with yourself.
- Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief

If you can cultivate the right attitude, your enemies are your best spiritual teachers because their presence provides you with the opportunity to enhance and develop tolerance, patience and understanding.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing Light of your own Being.
-Hafiz

If, in your course, you don’t meetyour equal, your better,then continue your course firmly,alone.There’s no fellowship with fools.
-Dhammapada, 6, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.


There are too many things in this world to be learned, and life is too short to learn everything, so we should complete that which we have begun rather than dabbling in many things.
-Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, "Advice From a Spiritual Friend"

Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open.
- Thomas Dewey

You must first have a lot of patience to learn to have patience.
- Stanislaw J. Lec

Don’t cling to your own understanding. Even if you do understand something, you should ask yourself if there might be something you have not fully resolved, or if there may be some higher meaning yet.
-Dogen

You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.
- Leo Aikman

Experiencing emptiness is also experiencing peace, and the potential of peace is its unfolding as harmony among all people, animals, plants, and things. The precepts formulate this harmony, showing how the absence of killing and stealing is the very condition of mercy and charity.
-Robert Aiken, "Mind Of Clover"

Neither nakedness nor matted hair nor mud nor the refusal of foodnor sleeping on the bare groundnor dust & dirt nor squatting austerities cleanses the mortal who's not gone beyond doubt. If, though adorned, one lives in tune with the chaste life--calmed, tamed & assured--having put down the rod toward all beings,he's a contemplative a brahmina monk.
-Dhammapada, 10, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

The Buddha was asked: "To what extent can a person be a speaker of the way?"He answered: "If a person teaches the way in order to transcend the tyranny of material things and to teach how to transcend feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness--teaching nonattachment with regard to these--then that person can be called a speaker of the way. If he is himself trying to transcend the pull of the material world and to feel nonattachment toward it, then it is fitting to say he is living in accordance with the way. If he is liberated by this transcendence and nonattachment, then you can say he has found nirvana here and now.
-Samyutta Nikaya