If money be not thy servant it will be thy master.
Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.
The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side.
Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit!
In nine times out of ten, the slanderous tongue belongs to a disappointed person.
Things used to be that way, now they’re this way, and who knows what they will be like later?
A strong attack is half the battle won.
The poor search for food, and the rich search for hunger.
You can have your nose broken easily if you put it in other people’s business.
The emotion felt by man in presence of nature certainly counts for something in the origin of religions.
On the battlefield, there is no distinction between upper and lower class.
You must first walk around a little before you can understand the distance from the valley to the mountain.
As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand.
Grown men can learn from very little children—for the hearts of little children are pure. Therefore, the Great Spirit may show them many things that older people miss.
The only one who is wiser than anyone is everyone.
The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.
The human race is governed by its imagination.
True heroism consists in being superior to the woes of life, in whatever shape they may challenge us to combat.
There is no place in a fanatic’s head where reason can enter.
A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.
A leader is a dealer in hope.
A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.
Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.
Power is founded upon opinion.
Nothing is more important in war than unity in command.
With trifling considerations, small vanities, and petty passions, it is never possible to accomplish anything great.
The art of being sometimes audacious and sometimes very prudent is the secret of success.
Clean your own yard first before asking others to clean theirs.
Two things rule the world: reward and punishment.
Someone who lies for you will also lie against you.
A person in solitude is subject to all kinds of doubts and uncertainties at every moment. Hence, the company of the holy and virtuous should be sought.
People have the illusion that all over the world, all the time, all kinds of fantastic things are happening; when in fact, over most of the world, most of the time, nothing is happening.
The great gift of conversation is less about displaying it ourselves than in drawing it out of others. Anyone who leaves your company pleased with himself and his own cleverness is very well pleased with you.
Two people cannot remain friends for long if they cannot forgive each other’s little failings.
Men blush less for their crimes than for their weaknesses and vanity.
You think he is your dupe; but if he pretends to be so, then who is the greater dupe: him or you?
Surely if living creatures saw the results of all their evil deeds, they would turn away from them in disgust. But selfhood blinds them, and they cling to their obnoxious desires. …
Thus they continue to move in the coil and can find no escape from the hell of their own making. And how empty are their pleasures, how vain are their endeavors!—hollow like the plantain-tree, and without contents like the bubble.
Water surrounds the lotuses, but does not wet its petal. On the other hand, sensuality of all kinds is enervating. The sensual man is a slave of his passions, and pleasure-seeking is degrading.
But to satisfy the necessities of life is not evil. To keep the body in good healthy is a duty, for otherwise we shall not be able to trim the lamp of wisdom, and keep our mind strong and clear.
This is the Middle Path, O bhikshus, that keeps aloof from both extremes.
The wise man will use the light he has to receive more light. He will constantly advance in the knowledge of truth.
…Let your happiness depend, not upon external things, but upon your own mind.
The man who walks in the noble path lives in the world, and yet his heart is not defiled by worldly desires.
… If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage. …. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
He who lives looking for pleasures only, his senses uncontrolled, immoderate in his food, idle, and weak—Mara will certainly overthrow him, as the wind throws down a weak tree.
As a fletcher makes straight his arrow, a wise man makes straight his trembling and unsteady thought, which is difficult to guard, difficult to hold back.
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.
If one man conquers in battle a thousand times a thousand men, and another conquers himself, the second man would have a far greater conquest. For one’s own self conquered is better than victory over other people. Not even the gods in heaven or the demons in hell can change into defeat the victory of such a man.
He who lives a hundred years, ignorant and unrestrained, a life of one day is better if a man is virtuous and reflecting.
He who lives a hundred years, idle and weak, a life of one day is better if a man has courage and earnest striving.
Let no man think lightly of evil, saying in his heart: "It will not come to me." As water drop by drop fills a jar, the foolish man soon becomes full of evil, even as he gathers it little by little.
Let no man think lightly of good work, saying in his heart: "It will not come to me." As water drop by drop fills a jar, the wise man soon becomes full of goodness, even as he gathers it little by little.
Let a man avoids evil deeds like a merchant who carries much wealth but with a small escort, avoids a dangerous road, or like a man who loves his life avoids poison.
He who has no wound on his hand may touch poison because it does not affect him; the man who has no evil, cannot be affected by evil.
There is an old saying, Atula, which is not a saying of today: They blame him who is silent, they blame him who speaks much, they also blame him who says little; no one can escape blame in this world.
If by forsaking a small pleasure one finds a greater pleasure, he who is wise will leave the small and look for the great.
The disciples of Gotama are ever awake and vigilant, and their thoughts day and night are always set on the Dhamma, their law.
A gentle word opens an iron gate.
There is a great pleasure that is born of pain.
If you haven’t been to two different bazaars, you don’t know the best value.
That is not the best sermon which makes the hearers go away talking to one another, and praising the speaker, but which makes them go away thoughtful and serious, and hastening to be alone.
I’d rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate.
Everyday happiness means getting up in the morning, and you can’t wait to finish your breakfast. You can’t wait to do your exercises. You can’t wait to put on your clothes. You can’t wait to get out. And you can’t wait to come home, because the soup is hot.
The fetus that fears criticism will never be born.
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which has the potential to turn a life around.
Truth is stranger than fiction. (“Don Juan”)