OK, so it’s fun shooting down fake Buddha Quotes, but to be truly constructive I should also post some genuine quotes that can be Tweeted, posted on Facebook, posted on blogs, etc. So here they are, with (ahem!) sources:
- “All conditioned things are impermanent” — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.
- “Be vigilant; guard your mind against negative thoughts”
- “Health is the greatest gift, contentment is the greatest wealth”
- “Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.”
- “People with opinions just go around bothering each other.”
- “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the single candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
- “We will develop love, we will practice it, we will make it both a way and a basis…”
- ‘As I am, so are these. As are these, so am I.’ Drawing the parallel to yourself, neither kill nor get others to kill.
- A mind unruffled by the vagaries of fortune, from sorrow freed, from defilements cleansed, from fear liberated — this is the greatest blessing.
- All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.
- As a water bead on a lotus leaf, as water on a red lily, does not adhere, so the sage does not adhere to the seen, the heard, or the sensed.
- As an elephant in the battlefield withstands arrows shot from bows all around, even so shall I endure abuse.
- Better it is to live one day seeing the rise and fall of things than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the rise and fall of things.
- Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.
- Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.
- He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.
- I will not look at another’s bowl intent on finding fault: a training to be observed.
- If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.
- If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way.
- Irrigators channel waters; fletchers straighten arrows; carpenters bend wood; the wise master themselves.
- Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the storm, even so the wise are not affected by praise or blame.
- Let all-embracing thoughts for all beings be yours.
- Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one’s own acts, done and undone.
- Resolutely train yourself to attain peace
- Should a person do good, let him do it again and again. Let him find pleasure therein, for blissful is the accumulation of good.
- Some do not understand that we must die, But those who do realize this settle their quarrels.
- The root of suffering is attachment
- To support mother and father, to cherish wife and children, and to be engaged in peaceful occupation — this is the greatest blessing.
- Whoever doesn’t flare up at someone who’s angry wins a battle hard to win.
- You yourself must strive. The Buddhas only point the way.
More…
- Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good. (Dhammapada)
- Even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child, so with a boundless heart, should one cherish all living beings. (Karaniya Metta Sutta)
- Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal. (Dhammapada)
- If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox. (Dhammapada)
- In four ways … should one who flatters be understood as a foe in the guise of a friend: He approves of his friend’s evil deeds, he disapproves his friend’s good deeds, he praises him in his presence, he speaks ill of him in his absence. (Sigalovada Sutta)
- The mentor can be identified by four things: by restraining you from wrongdoing, guiding you towards good actions, telling you what you ought to know, and showing you the path to heaven. (Sigalovada Sutta)
- A mind unruffled by the vagaries of fortune, from sorrow freed, from defilements cleansed, from fear liberated — this is the greatest blessing. (Mangala Sutta)
- Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean, nor by entering into mountain clefts, nowhere in the world is there a place where one may escape from the results of evil deeds. (Dhammapada)
- Should a person do good, let him do it again and again. Let him find pleasure therein, for blissful is the accumulation of good. (Dhammapada)
- Speak only endearing speech, speech that is welcomed. Speech, when it brings no evil to others, is pleasant. (Sutta Nipata)
- Speak only the speech that neither torments self nor does harm to others. That speech is truly well spoken. (Sutta Nipata)
- There are these two kinds of gifts: a gift of material things & a gift of the Dhamma. Of the two, this is supreme: a gift of the Dhamma. (Itivuttaka)
- To support mother and father, to cherish wife and children, and to be engaged in peaceful occupation — this is the greatest blessing. (Mangala Sutta)
- When a monk is an arahant, with his fermentations ended — one who has reached fulfillment, done the task, laid down the burden, attained the true goal, totally destroyed the fetter of becoming, and is released through right gnosis — the thought doesn’t occur to him that ‘There is someone better than me,’ or ‘There is someone equal to me,’ or ‘There is someone worse than me.’ (Khema Sutta)
- When one, abandoning greed, feels no greed for what would merit greed, greed gets shed from him — like a drop of water from a lotus leaf. (Itivuttaka)
OK, that’s a start. I’ll add more later.
Wonderful! please post more authentic quotes.
The Buddha said:
Bear always in mind what it is that I have not elucidated, and what it is that I have elucidated. And what have I not elucidated? I have not elucidated that the world is eternal; I have not elucidated that the world is not eternal; I have not elucidated that the world is finite; I have not elucidated that the world is infinite; I have not elucidated that the soul and the body are identical; I have not elucidated that the soul is one thing and the body another; I have not elucidated that the saint [arhat, one who achieves enlightenment in Theravâda Buddhism] exists after death; I have not elucidated that the saint does not exist after death; I have not elucidated that the saint both exists and does not exist after death; I have not elucidated that the saint neither exists nor does not exist after death. And why have I not elucidated this? Because this profits not, nor has to do with the fundamentals of relgiion, nor tends to aversion, absence of passion, cessation, quiescence, the supernatural faculties, supreme wisdom, and Nirvana; therefore have I not elucidated it.
And what have I elucidated? Misery [duhkha, pain, suffering -- from the root du, to burn, pain, torment] have I elucidated; the origin of misery have I elucidated; the cessation of misery have I elucidated; and the path leading to the cessation of misery have I elucidated [i.e. the Four Noble Truths]. And why have I elucidated this? Because this does profit, has to do with the fundamentals of religion, and tends to aversion, absence of passion, cessation, quiescence, knowledge, supreme wisdom, and Nirvana; therefore have I elucidated it. [Henry Clarke Warren, Buddhism in Translation, Harvard University Press, 1896, Atheneum, 1962-1987, p.122 -- Sutta-Pit.aka, Majjhima-Nikâya, Sutta 63]
Here’s one I’d like to believe, is it true?
Yes, that’s a very famous passage. You can find an alternative translation here: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.063.than.html, which puts it in context and also provides the famous simile of the poisoned arrow. The bit you quoted is from almost at the end of the sutta.
Thank you!
Yes, the link really provides a wonderful interpretation and setting.
The bee gathers nectar from the flower without marring its beauty or perfume. ~ Buddha
How easily the wind overturns a frail tree.
Seek happiness in the senses,
Indulge in food and sleep,
And you too will be uprooted… Buddha
What about anapana. Breath meditation? This is an anceint practice. Some say the Buddha taught it, some say he did not?
Well, on this blog I’m really just focusing on quotations. But anapanasati is definitely in the Pali canon. There’s a whole Anapanasati Sutta, and I think it’s safe to assume that the Buddha taught this practice. Of course the way people do the practice may not be the way the Buddha taught it. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Thank you for the clarification.
The Buddha certainly did teach anapanasati. See: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.118.than.html
I’ve been taught that from what scholars know of the meditation practice of the historical Buddha – the only meditation practice we know he did was mindfulness of breathing. So other techniques of mindfulness have come down to us through the ages, but if you read the suttas, the only mention of the Buddha’s practice was mindfulness of breathing. In the Anapanasati Sutta, the Buddha teaches that this practice alone can lead to complete liberation:
“when mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated, it is of great fruit and great benefit. When mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated, it fulfils the four foundations of mindfulness. When the four foundations of mindfulness are developed and cultivated, they fulfil the seven enlightenment factors. When the seven enlightenment factors are developed and cultivated, they fulfil true knowledge and deliverance.” (Bhikkhu Bodhi trans.)
Where does it say in the Anapanasati Sutta that it’s “this practice alone” can lead to complete liberation? This sounds rather “fundamentalist” to my ears
As far as other meditation practices go, the six element reflection is explained in detail in the Dhatuvibangha Sutta, the Brahmaviharas are mentioned often, and walking meditation is also frequently mentioned. It’s not entirely clear from the rather sketchy details given in the canon, but the meditations on the formless sphere (ayatanas) is another form of meditation, as well, and although while the breathing may initially be part of these meditations I certainly wouldn’t consider them to be anapanasati. Oh, and there are the six reflections (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, Ethics, Generosity, Dana) taught in the Anguttara Nikaya. And I believe the 10 kasina meditation are also mentioned in the Pali canon. [Added: yes, the kasinas are mentioned in MN 77.]
Do you know if ‘As we think, so we become’ is a real quote? I feel a bit of a mug finding out how many fake ones there are!
Hi, Charley.
Jayarava did a blog article on this one and concluded it was not from the Buddha. The closest I know of to that statement is in MN 19, “Whatever a monk keeps pursuing with his thinking and pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness.” But that’s a rather different statement.
It could also have its source in a corrupted version of Dhammapada 1-2.
Buddha said: “I consider the positions of kings and rulers as that of dust motes. I observe treasures of gold and gems as so many bricks and pebbles. I look upon the finest silken robes as tattered rags. I see myriad worlds of the universe as small seeds of fruit, and the greatest lake in India as a drop of oil on my foot. I perceive the teachings of the world to be the illusion of magicians. I di…scern the highest conception of emancipation as a golden brocade in a dream, and view the holy path of the illuminated ones as flowers appearing in one’s eyes. I see meditation as a pillar of a mountain, Nirvana as a nightmare of daytime. I look upon the judgment of right and wrong as the serpentine dance of a dragon, and the rise and fall of beliefs as but traces left by the four seasons.” From: http://www.101zenstories.com/ See More
That’s interesting. It’s from the Sutra of 42 Sections (Section 42), which was likely composed in China several hundred years after the Buddha’s death, although there may have been a Sanskrit original that was lost. From a Mahāyāna perspective it is of course a genuine Buddha quote, but from a historical perspective it’s rather dubious.
BTW, the translation I’ve linked to was by a Samuel Beal. Any relation?
how do you verify real Buddha quotes?
how can we believe all the Buddha’s words as Buddha is not in this world now?
Actually, I mostly verify fake Buddha quotes as having originated with someone else, although sometimes I’ll dismiss them as fake on more the subjective grounds that stylistically or thematically they’re at odds with the canonical record. I’m not really in the business of verifying real Buddha quotes, although it’s not hard to take a quote you recognize and find a canonical source.
“How can we believe all the Buddha’s words as Buddha is not in this world now?” Well, some of them I don’t believe (some of his cosmological views were at variance with modern science), and some I set to one side because I’ve no way of verifying them (e.g. rebirth). The rest, it’s a question of putting his words into practice and seeing what happens.
Hello Bodhipaksa, I was googling buddha quotes about peace for a design. I came across “Peace comes from within” but then its skeptical as I was reading in previous posts, but then are there any “Peace quotes” by Buddha which are authetic or supported by reference.
by the way i like this concept of your blog cause sometimes we are so dependent of internet that we think thats true., thank you.
Yes, the Buddha did talk about peace (shanti), although more in a personal than a societal sense. He called his path the “shanti marga,” the “Path of Peace.” I’ll see if I can dig out some peace quotes for you.
Ooh thank you very much for reply.
OK, here are a few, all from AccessToInsight.org. I’ve hyperlinked the first word or two so that you can consult the sources.
Having glimpsed the state of perfect peace,
Should be able, honest and upright,
Gentle in speech, meek and not proud.
And this last one’s not by the Buddha, but by his disciple Angulimala, who was a former murderer:
Thank you very much. It’s so nice of you to search quotes for 1 comment
You’re welcome.
Just out of curiosity, are the unnumbered, “more” quotes ones that you found on-line or just ones that you wanted to throw in?
The “more” quotes are simply those that I haven’t created a post for. The others are hyperlinked to some kind of resource, often a graphic but sometimes an analytical post.
You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.
Real or fake?
Well spotted, Kathy.
Yes, that one’s fake. It’s actually an inversion of the original passage, which says that others are as worthy of our love as we are. Of course I think it’s true that we deserve love and affection as much as anyone else, but it just so happens that’s not what the original says.
Thank you for the reply and info. I like your website.
When you light a lamp for someone else, you brighten your own path too. – Buddha
I couldn’t find this quote on your site, I am just wondering if this is a true quote from Buddha? I couldn’t find sufficient information off the web.
Thank you
I’m 99% sure that’s fake, and I remember looking into it at one point but not being able to find an original source. I’ll do some more researching in the new year.
Thank you so much, that is very kind of you
I do love this quote, it embellishes the compassion and wisdom that I found in buddhism.
Spreading fake buddha quotes could be considered as a bad things.. We should differentiate between “buddhism” or “buddha” quotes itself. A lot respect for u sir, thank you
. Warm regards from bali
Nago: I think unknowingly spreading fake quotes is being a victim, while knowingly spreading fake quotes is a serious offence against the Dharma. But we live in the age of Mappo (Degenerate Dharma Age) so this is to be expected. The guy who runs this side is a paladin for good in this age. Homage to him for doing this.
Thanks for your website. You’re doing a great service. May you reach and touch many. The notion of outspreading ripples in the pond. (Another maxim, or haiku, falsely attributed to Buddha?)
Bill
You’re welcome, Bill.
bodhipaksa,
are you a theravada ?
Or mahayana ?
I am neither. I’m simply a Buddhist. I read Mahayana Sutras, but don’t accept that they represent a higher teaching or that they supersede the Pali canon. I read the Pali canon, but don’t consider it to be the only source of wisdom from the Buddhist tradition. Wisdom comes from practice, and later writers had their own insights and ways of expressing them. At the same time, I refer back constantly to the Pali canon, since it’s the closest we’ll get to what the Buddha taught.
hellow, bodhipaksa
i am from sri lanka where the place tripitakas were written down by 500 rahat monks of aluvihara,
after five centuries the parinibban of shakyamuni,
title name of this site misled me, i thought this site was insulting to lord buddha,