He who was brought up with difficulty by his parents but does not minister to their wants and behave wrongly towards them, is doomed to enter the realm of misery.
—Buddhist Teaching
I don’t believe the war is simply the work of politicians and capitalists. Oh no, the common man is every bit as guilty; otherwise, people and nations would have rebelled long ago! There’s a destructive urge in people, the urge to rage, murder, and kill. And until all of humanity, without exception, undergoes a metamorphosis, wars will continue to be waged, and everything that has been carefully built up, cultivated and grown will be cut down and destroyed, only to start all over again!
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
He who neither kills nor gives the order to kill and neither conquers nor gives the order to conquer cultivates his loving-kindness to all beings, thereby being at enmity with nobody.
—Buddhist Teaching
An impersonal and scientific knowledge of the structure of our bodies is the surest safeguard against prurient curiosity and lascivious gloating.
—Marie Stopes (1880–1958) British Author, Social Activist
Let a man avoid evil as does a merchant, having (only) few companions (but) possessing great wealth, avoid a dangerous road, or as does a person, still clinging to life, avoid a poison.
—Buddhist Teaching
He is neither absorbed in sensual pleasure nor treat others with contempt. He also is gentle and ready-witted. Such a person is not credulous nor fluctuating.
—Buddhist Teaching
What a man is is the basis of what he dreams and thinks, accepts and rejects, feels and perceives.
—John Mason Brown (1900–69) American Columnist, Journalist, Author
Every man is valued in this world as he shows by his conduct that he wishes to be valued.
—Jean de La Bruyere
Not only can a man be called “wise,” but also can a woman who is endowed with wisdom be so called.
—Buddhist Teaching
He is called “One who has attained perfect Tranquillity who is indifferent to sensual pleasure, has no binding rope of passion and has overcome his craving which is the great cause of restlessness.
—Buddhist Teaching
A fool has to suffer through his unwise management because he hurries when it is time to slow down but slows down when it is time to hurry.
—Buddhist Teaching
To do good without knowing (what is) good never brings about happiness. The fool, like a monkey taking care of the orchard, destroys his own benefit.
—Buddhist Teaching
Our dependence outweighs our independence, for we are independent only in our desire, while we are dependent on our health, on nature, on society, on everything in us and outside us.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Philosopher, Writer
A Bhikkhu must not shrink because of blame nor swell because of praise. He must try to get rid of his covetousness, miserliness, anger and slander.
—Buddhist Teaching
Train your mind to be well-poised with the contemplation of the impurities of the body. Fix your attention on the body. Safeguard your weariness of worldly life.
—Buddhist Teaching
He, who is not content-with his own wife, who has an intercourse with prostitutes and goes to others’ wives is doomed to destruction.
—Buddhist Teaching
Endowed with morality, wisdom and learning, a man usually behaves for others’ welfare as well as for himself.
—Buddhist Teaching
Warned by the Divine Messengers, those who are still careless will enter the lower existence and regret for a long time.
—Buddhist Teaching
One who is given to anger and ill-will thereby refusing to forgive others’ faults which have been confessed, heaps hatred upon himself.
—Buddhist Teaching
Let a man not look down upon hit gains. Let him not crave for others’. A Bhikkhu, being greedy for others’ gains, will never have a concentrated mind.
—Buddhist Teaching
‘Know thyself’ was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, ‘Be thyself’ shall be written.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet
He who duly supports his parents is always praised in this very life. He will also rejoice in the hereafter.
—Buddhist Teaching
An ill-fated person may accumulate wealth, but a (more) fortunate person, whether skilful or not, will come to use it (will benefit by it).
—Buddhist Teaching
Just as the Brahmins worship the fire, so should you worship him by whom the doctrine, well-preached by the All-Enlightened one, is made known to you.
—Buddhist Teaching
Since he has evil desire, does not listen to his own conscience nor pay attention to the doctrine, he will have to face sin and thereby enter the lower plane of existence.
—Buddhist Teaching
Man is to man all kinds of beasts; a fawning dog, a roaring lion, a thieving fox, a robbing wolf, a dissembling crocodile, a treacherous decoy, and a rapacious vulture.
—Abraham Cowley (1618–67) English Poet
He who is wise in the ancient law of Righteousness and is well-behaved will never go to the lower state of existence.
—Buddhist Teaching
Show me the man you honor, and I will know what kind of a man you are, for it shows me what your ideal of manhood is, and what kind of a man you long to be.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
He has abandoned the five mental hindrances and has destroyed his mental impurities. Having done away with his love and hatred, he is not possessed by thirst and wrong views. Such a person generally wanders alone like the rhinoceros’s horn.
—Buddhist Teaching
Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creatures of man. We are free agents, and man is more powerful than matter.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
An honest man is the noblest work of God.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
The soul of man createth its own destiny of power; and as the trial is intenser here, his being hath a nobler strength of heaven.
—Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806–67) American Poet, Playwright, Essayist
A fool suffers because he thinks that he has children, and he possesses wealth. Since he himself is not his own, how can a “son” or “wealth” belong to him?
—Buddhist Teaching
An eclipsed moon enjoys no brightness or splendour, nor does a man who is under a woman’s influence, even though he may be influential, wise, respected and worshipped by the public.
—Buddhist Teaching
There wouldn’t be half as much fun in the world if it weren’t for children and men, and there ain’t a mite of difference between them under their skins.
—Ellen Glasgow (1873–1945) American Novelist
All that is limited by form, semblance, sound, color is called object. Among them all, man alone is more than an object. Though, like objects, he has form and semblance, He is not limited to form. He is more. He can attain to formlessness. When he is beyond form and semblance, beyond this and that, where is the comparison with another object? Where is the conflict? What can stand in his way? He will rest in his eternal place which is no-place. He will be hidden in his own unfathomable secret. His nature sinks to its root in the One. His vitality, his power hide in secret Tao.
—Zhuang Zhou (369BCE–286BCE) Chinese Philosopher
A wise man, having obtained wealth, usually helps his relatives. He is accordingly beloved here and will also rejoice in the hereafter.
—Buddhist Teaching
Evolution is not finished; reason is not the last word nor the reasoning animal the supreme figure of Nature. As man emerged out of the animal, so out of man the superman emerges.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
He is called a ” Samana” (one who has calmed down his mind) who is not overpowered by hunger even though he is hungry, who is self-controlled, equipped with perseverance, moderate in his food and drink, and never commits a sin for the sake of (obtaining) food.
—Buddhist Teaching
He who is wise, sensible, has a clear understanding, and is quick-witted can suddenly free himself (from suffering). Do not be afraid. He will come back.
—Buddhist Teaching
A gentleman is one who is too brave to lie, too generous to cheat, and who takes his share of the world and lets other people have theirs.
—Paul G. Hoffman (1891–1974) American Businessperson, Government Official
Just as the moon emerging from the clouds does brilliantly shine, so does a person by doing good leave his past evils behind.
—Buddhist Teaching
Just as the vicious robber is caught at the opening (made by himself for the purpose of entering the house with a thieving intentions and will have to regret his own crime, so in the hereafter will the persons who have committed a sin.
—Buddhist Teaching
Never does a wise man commit a sin for the sake of his happiness. Never will he discard Morality because of his personal love or hatred, even though he may suffer and meet with a failure.
—Buddhist Teaching
Do you know what a man is? Are not birth, beauty, good shape, discourse, manhood, learning, gentleness, virtue, youth, liberality, and such like, the spice and salt that season a man?
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
As an awaken man does not see what he saw in who his dream, so a living man cannot see the deceased who were his beloved ones.
—Buddhist Teaching
The virtuous, like the Himalayas, appear from far away, while the vicious, like an arrow shot into the dark of the night, always disappears.
—Buddhist Teaching
Those Sages who practise the virtue of non-violence and who are always self-restrained, will attain the everlasting state where they will be perfectly free from sorrow.
—Buddhist Teaching
What all men are really after is some form, or perhaps only some formula, of peace.
—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) Polish-born British Novelist
It is not a question how much a man knows, but what use he makes of what he knows; not a question of what he has acquired, and how he has been trained, but of what he is, and what he can do.
—Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819–81) American Novelist, Poet
He should not break the branches of a tree under whose shade he used to sleep or sit, for a wicked man is he who betrays his friend.
—Buddhist Teaching
He who has conquered Mara (the Evil One) together with his army has the last birth because he has perfected his mental forces, calmed down his mind and put it to rest.
—Buddhist Teaching
Our bodies are shaped to bear children, and our lives are a working out of the processes of creation. All our ambitions and intelligence are beside that great elemental point.
—Phyllis McGinley (1905–78) American Children’s Books Writer, Poet, Writer of Children’s Books
Society is the master and man is the servant; and it is entirely according as society proves a good or bad master, whether he turns out a bad or a good servant.
—George Augustus Henry Sala (1828–95) British Journalist
O Bhikkhus, while you are thus recollecting the Buddha (the Enlightened One), the Dhamma (the Law) and the Sangha (the Order), you will be free from fear, fright, and also from being startled.
—Buddhist Teaching
Man is the creature of circumstances.
—Robert Owen (1771–1858) British Social Reformer, Philosopher
He is doomed to enter the Realm of Misery who, being absorbed in and delighted with sensual pleasure, is deeply merged in it and commits a sin (for its sake).
—Buddhist Teaching
Do what thy manhood bids thee do, from none but self expect applause; he noblest lives and noblest dies who makes and keeps his self-made laws. All other Life is living Death, a world where none but Phantoms dwell, a breath, a wind, a sound, a voice, a tinkling of the camel-bell.
—Richard Burton (1925–84) Welsh Actor
I have sought through all directions for one whom I can love more than myself, but in vain. So also does everybody love himself most. Every self-lover should therefore not violate others.
—Buddhist Teaching
To have known one good old man — one man who, through the chances and mischances of a long life, has carried his heart in his hand, like a palm branch, waving all discords into peace — helps our faith in God, in ourselves, and in each other, more than many sermons.
—George William Curtis (1824–92) American Essayist, Public Speaker, Editor, Author
Being afraid of suffering and loathing it, you should do no evil, both in the open and in the secret place.
—Buddhist Teaching
He who is self-extolling and treats other with contempt, degrades himself through his own conceit. He should be known as a wretch.
—Buddhist Teaching
There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it ill behooves any of us to find fault with the rest of us.
—Unknown
A wise man is happy because of his wise management knowing how to hurry when it is time to hurry and slow down when it is time to slow down.
—Buddhist Teaching
You first parents of the human race … who ruined yourselves for an apple, what might you not have done for a truffled turkey?
—Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755–1826) French Lawyer, Politician
He should be known as a wretch who, after borrowing and spending other’s money, runs away or refuses the debt.
—Buddhist Teaching
Just as the merchants meet with disaster because of the water-demon, so will those who do not follow the instructions given by the Enlightened One.
—Buddhist Teaching
As long as an evil does not bear fruit, so long will the fool imagine it as sweet. But when it bears fruit, he wilt then experience suffering.
—Buddhist Teaching
It is a cause of ruin to be proud of one’s birth, wealth and family name and then to despise even one’s own relatives.
—Buddhist Teaching
One who has calmed down all kinds of evil, small and great, is called a “Samana” — one who calms down evils.
—Buddhist Teaching
Who dares do all that may become a man, and dares no more, he is a man indeed.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
He is wise who purposely remains single, whereas he stains himself who is addicted to sexual intercourse.
—Buddhist Teaching
There are depths in man that go to the lowest hell, and heights that reach the highest heaven, for are not both heaven and hell made out of him, everlasting miracle and mystery that he is.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Those who are impassioned in sensual enjoyments, who are attached to and merged in sensuality, do not know of their overstepping, just as the fishes (not knowing their overstepping) suddenly enter into a trap.
—Buddhist Teaching
Of all the ways of defining man, the worst is the one which makes him out to be a rational animal.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
Parents are the supreme gods to their children. They are also called the children’s first teachers. They are their greatest objects of worship and the patrons of beings.
—Buddhist Teaching
Of all men, very few can cross the stream of life and death to the other bank of safety (Nibbana). The rest of them only run up and down on this side of the bank (of life and death).
—Buddhist Teaching
We tolerate shapes in human beings that would horrify us if we saw them in a horse.
—William Ralph Inge (1860–1954) English Anglican Clergyman, Priest, Mystic
He glorifies his group who is wise, courageous, learned, virtuous and lives up to the law of Righteousness.
—Buddhist Teaching
The living-place of an Arahat (“Worthy One”), be it a village or a forest, in the low land or on the plateau, is always delightful.
—Buddhist Teaching
A fool, misled by his own folly, is often burnt by his own anger because of his showing off with malicious intention.
—Buddhist Teaching
A wise man who is grateful, faithfully keeps good company and duly gives a helping hand to those who are in trouble is called a virtuous person.
—Buddhist Teaching
It is not a struggle merely of economic theories, or forms of government or of military power. At issue is the true nature of man. Either man is the creature whom the psalmist described as a little lower than the angels … or man is a soulless, animated machine to be enslaved, used and consumed by the state for its own glorification. It is, therefore, a struggle which goes to the roots of the human spirit, and its shadow falls across the long sweep of man’s destiny.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
He who is equipped with mindfulness and who extends unlimited loving-kindness to all beings has destroyed hit passions. His fetters are loosened.
—Buddhist Teaching
How little man is; yet, in his own mind, how great! He is lord and master of all things, yet scarce can command anything. He is given a freedom of his will; but wherefore? Was it but to torment and perplex him the more? How little avails this freedom, if the objects he is to act upon be not as much disposed to obey as he is to command!
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
He is respected wherever he goes, be it a town or a city, because he does not betray his friends.
—Buddhist Teaching
The human body is not a thing or substance, given, but a continuous creation. The human body is an energy system which is never a complete structure; never static; is in perpetual inner self-construction and self-destruction; we destroy in order to make it new.
—Norman O. Brown (1913–2002) American Philosopher
Having done away with lust, hatred and delusion together with all other fetters, he has no fear of death and wanders alone like a rhinoceros’s horn.
—Buddhist Teaching
He is the wisest and happiest man, who, by constant attention of thought discovers the greatest opportunity of doing good, and breaks through every opposition that he may improve these opportunities.
—Philip Doddridge (1702–51) English Nonconformist Religious Leader, Educator, Hymn writer