Thanissaro Quotes & Sayings

The desire for true happiness
is nothing to feel ashamed about. — Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Don't be a slave to style. Don't take more from the world than you're willing to give back. And learn to undo the perceptions-so heavily promoted by the media-that shopping is a form of therapy and that a purchase is nothing but a victory or a gain. — Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Irvine is such a safe, stable, planned community, and I'm a person who has a lot of inner longing for drama and romance. So I think in some way the structure of Irvine made me more creative because I had these boundaries, and I thought outside them. — Andrea Seigel

He hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age, doing, in the figure of a lamb, the feats of a lion. — William Shakespeare

There would be a crafts tent and a small local farmers' market for anyone who wanted to buy a small local farmer. — Jodi Taylor

I should have felt overwhelmed by emotion. I should have felt something. But despite my tears, I was numb. As if that black hole that would envelop my husband's body forever was really inside me. I was the black hole. Hollow, echoing, empty. — Ellen J. Green

The key to maintaining your inspiration in the day-to-day work of meditation practice is to approach it as play - a happy opportunity to master practical skills, to raise questions, experiment, and explore. — Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Worry less, enjoy more, because more often than not, things will work out anyway. — Jennifer O'Neill

The teaching on karma starts with the principle that people experience happiness and sorrow based on a combination of their past and present intentions. If we act with unskillful intentions either for ourselves or for others, we're going to suffer. If we act with skillful intentions, we'll experience happiness. So if we want to be happy, we have to train our intentions to always be skillful. — Thanissaro Bhikkhu

There isn't anything that I cannot be or do or have, and I have a huge Nonphysical staff that's ready to assist me, and I'm ready. — Esther Hicks

It is one of the most detestable habits of a Liliputian mind to credit other people with its own malignant pettiness. — Honore De Balzac

China needs a powerful Europe, but Europe can only be strong if each and every one of its members attains rapid economic development. — Victor Ponta

The Buddha's last words instructed us to be heedful - to see our actions as important and to keep that importance in mind at all times. — Thanissaro Bhikkhu

I milked my typical persona as a gritty, intellectual sex-positive feminist that men loved to conquer, toss aside, and shove into their conquest collection in the dusty backs of their closets. — Maggie Young

I was a smart kid, but I hated school. — Eminem

Remember that you don't have to like or admire someone to feel compassion for that person. All you have to do is wish for that person to be happy. — Thanissaro Bhikkhu

I don't like being called 'macho.' Macho basically means stupid and a real Italian man is not macho, he's smart. That's smart in both senses: elegant and clever. — Andrea Bocelli

We have to respect that any nominee to the Supreme Court would have to defer any comments on any matters, which are either before the court or very likely to be before the court. — Edward Kennedy

Searching all directions with one's awareness, one finds no one dearer than oneself. In the same way, others are fiercely dear to themselves. So one should not hurt others if one loves oneself. — Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Suppose that a man were to drop a salt crystal into a small amount of water in a cup. What do you think? Would the water in the cup become salty because of the salt crystal, and unfit to drink?

Yes, lord. Why is that? There being only a small amount of water in the cup, it would become salty because of the salt crystal, and unfit to drink.

Now suppose that a man were to drop a salt crystal into the River Ganges. What do you think? Would the water in the River Ganges become salty because of the salt crystal, and unfit to drink?

No, lord. Why is that? There being a great mass of water in the River Ganges, it would not become salty because of the salt crystal or unfit to drink. — Thanissaro Bhikkhu

He doesn't know either." She stopped and faced me. "Have you ever thought that maybe you're helping him figure that out? — Heather Demetrios