Nhat Hanh famous quotes

You are what you want to become. Why search anymore? You are a wonderful manifestation. The whole universe has come together to make your existence possible. There is nothing that is not you. The kingdom of God, the Pure Land, nirvana, happiness, and liberation are all you.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Happiness #Yoga #Land

People normally cut reality into compartments, and so are unable to see the interdependence of all phenomena. To see one in all and all in one is to break through the great barrier which narrows one's perception of reality.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Cutting #Reality #Oneness

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Life #Buddhist #Morning

Some people live as though they are already dead. There are people moving around us who are consumed by their past, terrified of their future, and stuck in their anger and jealousy. They are not alive; they are just walking corpses.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Moving #Past #People

If you love someone but rarely make yourself available to him or her, that is not true love.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Friendship #True Love #Positivity

Because you are alive, everything is possible.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Buddhist #Attitude #Positivity

You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Positive Thinking #Deep Love #Way

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Motivational #Buddhist #Children

When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?
-- Nhat Hanh

#Inspirational #Deep Love #When You Love Someone

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Inspirational #Positive #Happiness

Many people are alive but don't touch the miracle of being alive.
-- Nhat Hanh

#People #Miracle #Alive

We all have the seeds of love in us.We can develop this wonderful source of energy, nurturing the unconditional love that does not expect anything in return.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Unconditional Love #Forbidden Love #Return

To be loved means to be recognized as existing.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Mean

We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Mom #Jobs #Hard Work

Enlightenment is always there. Small enlightenment will bring great enlightenment. If you breathe in and are aware that you are alive - that you can touch the miracle of being alive - then that is a kind of enlightenment.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Miracle #Enlightenment #Alive

Compassionate listening is to help the other side suffer less. If we realize that other people are the same people as we are, we are no longer angry at them.
-- Nhat Hanh

#People #Listening #Suffering

There is the mud, and there is the lotus that grows out of the mud. We need the mud in order to make the lotus.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Order #Mud #Lotuses

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.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Past #Gone #Moments

As we cultivate peace and happiness in ourselves, we also nourish peace and happiness in those we love.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Spirituality #Peace And Happiness

People suffer because they are caught in their views. As soon as we release those views, we are free and we don't suffer anymore.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Inspirational #Life #Change

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Views #Needs #Abandon

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

#Moving On #Depression #Letting Go

The way you speak to others can offer them joy, happiness, self-confidence, hope, trust, and enlightenment. Mindful speaking is a deep practice.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Happiness #Trust #Confidence

Your anger is like a flower. In the beginning you may not understand the nature of your anger, or why it has come up. But if you know how to embrace it with the energy of mindfulness, it will begin to open. You may be sitting, following your breathing, or you may be practicing walking meditation to generate the energy of mindfulness and embrace your anger. After ten or twenty minutes your anger will have to open herself to you, and suddenly, you will see the true nature of your anger. It may have arisen just because of a wrong perception or the lack of skillfulness.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Flower #Anger #Meditation

To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Beautiful #Being Yourself #Buddhist

If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Inspirational #Life #Change

Be Yourself. Life is precious as it is. All the elements for your happiness are already here. There is no need to run, strive, search, or struggle. Just Be.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Life #Running #Being Yourself

If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Yoga #Missing #Moments

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Peace #Buddhist #Truth

There are many ways to calm a negative energy without suppressing or fighting it. You recognize it, you smile to it, and you invite something nicer to come up and replace it; you read some inspiring words, you listen to a piece of beautiful music, you go somewhere in nature, or you do some walking meditation.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Beautiful #Fighting #Meditation

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 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 arguments. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Love #Meaningful #Water

Many people think excitement is happiness.... But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Happiness #Peace #Buddhism

Understanding and Love are not two separate things, but just one. To develop understanding, you have to practice looking at all living beings with the eyes of compassion. When you understand, you cannot help but love. And when you love, you naturally act in a way that can relieve the suffering of people.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Love #Eye #Compassion

Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it bears your signature.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Inspirational #Life #Change

Letting go gives us freedom and freedom is the only condition for happiness
-- Nhat Hanh

#Happiness #Letting Go #Giving

Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Mean #Bridges #Mind

Compassion is a verb.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Compassion #Verbs

We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Life #Opportunity #Realizing

Guarding knowledge is not a good way to understand. Understanding means to throw away your knowledge.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Wisdom #Mean #Understanding

At any moment, you have a choice, that either leads you closer to your spirit or further away from it.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Spiritual #Yoga #Choices

Let us not be afraid of decreasing. It is like the moon, we see the moon increasing and decreasing, but it is always the moon.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Wisdom #Moon

A bodhisattva is someone who has compassion within himself or herself and who is able to make another person smile or help someone suffer less. Every one of us is capable of this.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Compassion #Suffering #Able

If a child smiles, if an adult smiles, that is very important. If in our daily lives we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. If we really know how to live, what better way to start the day than with a smile? Our smile affirms our awareness and determination to live in peace and joy. The source of a true smile is an awakened mind.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Life #Smile #Determination

Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything - anger, anxiety, or possessions - we cannot be free.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Happiness #Inspiring #Letting Go

By listening with calm and understanding, we can ease the suffering of another person.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Leadership #Understanding #Listening

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Anchors #Sky #Breathing

I would not look upon anger as something foreign to me that I have to fight... I have to deal with my anger with care, with love, with tenderness, with nonviolence.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Buddhist #Anger #Fighting

Silence is something that comes from your heart, not from outside. Silence doesn't mean not talking and not doing things; it means that you are not disturbed inside. If you're truly silent, then no matter what situation you find yourself in you can enjoy the silence.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Heart #Mean #Talking

We have the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast. But in the name of freedom, people have done a lot of damage. I think we have to build a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast in order to counterbalance. Because liberty without responsibility is not true liberty. We are not free to destroy.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Responsibility #Thinking #Order

Today is the most important day of our lives.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Important #Today

If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today
-- Nhat Hanh

#Believe #Today #Bears

It is possible to live twenty-four hours a day in a state of love. Every movement, every glance, every thought, and every word can be infused with love.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Love #Movement #Four

The amount of happiness that you have depends on the amount of freedom you have in your heart.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Heart #Positivity

It is my conviction that there is no way to peace - peace is the way.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Peace #Truth #Yoga

The Three Kinds of Pride are: (1) thinking I am better than the other(s); (2) thinking I am worse than the other(s); and (3) thinking I am just as good as the other(s).
-- Nhat Hanh

#Pride #Thinking #Three

Words and thoughts concerning compassionate action that are not put into practice are like beautiful flowers that are colorful but have no fragrance.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Beautiful #Flower #Practice

Every day we do things, we are things that have to do with peace. If we are aware of our life..., our way of looking at things, we will know ohw to make peace right in the moment, we are alive.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Inspirational #Way #Alive

Attachment to views is the greatest impediment to the spiritual path.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Spiritual #Attachment #Views

Life is a miracle, and being aware of simply this can already make us very happy.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Miracle #Life Is #Very Happy

The problem is whether we are determined to go in the direction of compassion or not. If we are, then can we reduce the suffering to a minimum? If I lose my direction, I have to look for the North Star, and I go to the north. That does not mean I expect to arrive at the North Star. I just want to go in that direction.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Peace #Stars #Truth

Life is filled with suffering, but it is also filled with many wonders, like the blue sky, the sunshine, the eyes of a baby. To suffer is not enough. We must also be in touch with the wonders of life. They are within us and all around us, everywhere, any time.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Baby #Eye #Sunshine

Breathing in, there is only the present moment. Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Breathing #Wonderful #Moments

The root-word "buddha" means to wake up, to know, to understand; and he or she who wakes up and understands is call a Buddha. It is as simple as that. The capacity to wake up, to understand, and to love is called Buddha nature.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Knowledge #Mean #Simple

Listening to and understanding our inner sufferings will resolve most of the problems we encounter.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Understanding #Listening #Suffering

Your breathing should flow gracefully, like a river, like a watersnake crossing the water, and not like a chain of rugged mountains or the gallop of a horse. To master our breath is to be in control of our bodies and minds. Each time we find ourselves dispersed and find it difficult to gain control of ourselves by different means, the method of watching the breath should always be used.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Buddhist #Horse #Mean

Working for peace in the future is to work for peace in the present moment.
-- Nhat Hanh

#War #Moments #Present Moment

Wisdom and joy arise when you learn to exist now rather than in the nonexistent past or future.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Past #Joy #Arise

The kingdom of God is available to you in the here and the now. But the question is whether you are available to the kingdom. Our practice is to make ourselves ready for the kingdom so that it can manifest in the here and the now. You don't need to die in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. In fact, you have to be truly alive in order to do so.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Order #Practice #Heaven

Love is the capacity to take care, to protect, to nourish. If you are not capable of generatng that kind of energy toward yourself- if you are not capable of taking care of yourself, of nourishing yourself, of protecting yourself - it is very difficult to take care of another person. In the Buddhist teaching, it's clear that to love oneself is the foundation of the love of other people. Love is a practice. Love is truly a practice.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Buddhist #Teaching #Love Is

Your journey to a healthier weight is not a journey that you start and then give up. It is a journey that you are living every day for the rest of your life.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Motivational #Giving Up #Journey

You who are journalists, writers, citizens, you have the right and duty to say to those you have elected that they must practice mindfulness, calm and deep listening, and loving speech. This is universal thing, taught by all religions.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Practice #Meditation #Listening

We inter-breath with the rain forests, we drink from the oceans. They are part of our own body.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Nature #Ocean #Rain

Anger is like a storm rising up from the bottom of your consciousness. When you feel it coming, turn your focus to your breath. Breathe in deeply to bring your mind home to your body. Then look at, or think of, the person triggering this emotion: with mindfulness, you can see that they are unhappy and suffering. You can see their wrong perceptions. You'll feel motivated by a desire to say or do something to help the other person suffer less. This means compassionate energy has been born in your heart. And when compassion appears, anger is deleted.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Wisdom #Heart #Mean

But if we have the energy of compassion and loving kindness in us, the people around us will be influenced by our way of being and living.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Kindness #Compassion #People

When we recognise the virtues, the talent, the beauty of Mother Earth, something is born in us, some kind of connection; love is born.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Inspirational #Mother #Love Is

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Friendship #Offers

Nothing is more precious than being in the present moment. Fully alive, fully aware.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Alive #Moments #Present Moment

Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Inspirational #Life #Change

Freedom is the basic condition for you to touch life, to touch the blue sky, the trees, the birds, the tea, and the other person.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Freedom #Sky #Blue

The way we live our daily lives is what most effects the situation of the world. If we can change our daily lives, then we can change our governments and can change the world. Our president and governments are us. They reflect our lifestyle and our way of thinking. The way we hold a cup of tea, pick up the newspaper or even use toilet paper are directly related to peace.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Thinking #Government #Tea

Mindfulness is the miracle by which we master and restore ourselves.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Miracle #Mindfulness #Masters

Every one of us needs a home. The world needs a home. There are so many young people who are homeless. They may have a building to live in, but they are homeless in their hearts. That is why the most important practice of our time is to give each person a home.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Heart #Home #Practice

The greatest of all miracles is to be alive.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Faith #Miracle #Alive

It is possible to live happily in the here and now. So many conditions of happiness are available-more than enough for you to be happy right now. You don't have to run into the future in order to get more.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Running #Inspirational Life #Order

Mindfulness practices enhance the connection between our body, our mind and everything else that is around us. Mindful living is the key to understanding our struggles with weight and to empowering us to control our weight.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Struggle #Practice #Keys

If love is in our hearts, every thought, word, and deed can bring about a miracle. Because understanding is the very foundation of love, words and actions that emerge from our love are always helpful.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Heart #Love Is #Miracle

True self is non-self, the awareness that the self is made only of non-self elements. There's no separation between self and other, and everything is interconnected. Once you are aware of that you are no longer caught in the idea that you are a separate entity.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Inspirational #Life #Change

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Life #Happiness #Success

May all beings learn how to nourish themselves with joy each day.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Joy #Each Day #May

The source of a true smile is an awakened mind. Smiling helps you approach the day with gentleness and understanding.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Understanding #Mind #Helping

If every day you practice walking and sitting meditation and generate the energy of mindfulness and concentration and peace, you are a cell in the body of the new Buddha. This is not a dream but is possible today and tomorrow.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Dream #Cells #Practice

You do not suffer because things are impermanent. You suffer because things are impermanent and you think they are permanent.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Uplifting #Thinking #Suffering

In our consciousness, there are many negative seeds and also many positive seeds. The practice is to avoid watering the negative seeds, and to identify and water the positive seeds every day.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Practice #Water #Negative

Most of us experience a life full of wonderful moments and difficult moments. But for many of us, even when we are most joyful, there is fear behind our joy.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Joy #Wonderful #Moments

Meditation is offering your genuine presence to yourself in every moment.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Inspiration #Practice #Offering

The purpose of a vacation is to have the time to rest. But many of us, even when we go on vacation, don't know how to rest. We may even come back more tired than before we left.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Tired #Vacation #Goes On

If we are not able to smile, then the world will not have peace.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Smile #Peace #World

Birth is okay and death is okay, if we know that they are only concepts in our mind. Reality transcends both birth and death.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Reality #Mind #Birth

The most important thing is that we need to be understood. We need someone to be able to listen to us and to understand us. Then we will suffer less.
-- Nhat Hanh

#Empathy #Suffering #Important

The war is in our souls.
-- Nhat Hanh

#War #Soul