Thich Nhát Hanh

Best Quotes

• The practice of peace and reconciliation is one of the most vital and artistic of human actions.

• When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughts and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable.

• If we are not empty, we become a block of matter. We cannot breathe, we cannot think. To be empty means to be alive, to breathe in and to breathe out. We cannot be alive if we are not empty. Emptiness is impermanence, it is change. We should not complain about impermanence, because without impermanence, nothing is possible.

• When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or our family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.

• The true miracle is not walking on water or walking in air, but simply walking on this earth.

• The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.

• Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

• People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

• Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.

• Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos - the trees, the clouds, everything.

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