The Dhammapada Quotes

“A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.”
― Dhammapada, The Dhammapada: The Sayings of the Buddha

“Conquer the angry one by not getting angry; conquer the wicked by goodness; conquer the stingy by generosity, and the liar by speaking the truth.

[Verse 223]”
― Siddhārtha Gautama, The Dhammapada

“Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.”
― Siddhārtha Gautama, The Dhammapada: The Sayings of the Buddha

“Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.”
― Buddha, The Dhammapada

“If you find no one to support you on the spiritual path, walk alone. There is no companionship with the immature.”
― Siddhārtha Gautama, The Dhammapada

“The one who has conquered himself is a far greater hero than he who has defeated a thousand times a thousand men.”
― Dhammapada, The Dhammapada: The Sayings of the Buddha

“You are what you think. All that you are arises from your thoughts. With your thoughts you make your world.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.

Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted! ”
― Buddha, The Dhammapada: Verses on the Way

“Many do not realize that we here must die. For those who realize this, quarrels end.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“There's a mess inside you:
You clean the outside.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“If you never see a fool
You'll always be happy.

The one who keeps company with fools
Will be sorry for a long time.
It's painful to live with fools,
Like being always with an enemy.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“The non-doing of any evil,
the performance of what's skillful,
the cleansing of one's own mind:
this is the teaching of the Awakened. ”
― Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni, The Dhammapada

“In the village, a sage should go about
Like a bee, which, not harming
Flower, colour or scent,
Flies off with the nectar.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“Now may every living thing, young or old,
weak or strong, living near or far, known or
unknown, living or departed or yet unborn,
may every living thing be full of bliss.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“From the dear comes grief;
From the dear comes fear.
If you're freed from the dear
You'll have no grief, let alone fear.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“The ignorant man is an ox. He grows in size, not in wisdom.”
― Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada

“The fool who knows his folly
Becomes wise by that fact.
But the fool who thinks he's wise -
He's called 'a fool' indeed!”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“Better than a thousand sayings
Made up of useless words
Is one word of meaning
Which calms you to hear it.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“If there is no wound in your hand
You can carry poison in your hand.
Poison does not attack one who is unwounded.
There is no evil for one who does not do evil.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“The virtuous man delights in this world and he delights in the next”
― Siddhārtha Gautama, The Dhammapada: The Sayings of the Buddha

“The aware do not die;
The unaware are as though dead already.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“Those who consider the inessential to be essential
And see the essential as inessential
Don't reach the essential,
Living in the field of wrong intention”
― The Buddha, The Dhammapada

“Though you might conquer in battle
A thousand times a thousand men,
You're the greatest battle-winner
If you conquer just one - yourself.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“If you cannot find a good companion to walk with, walk alone, like an elephant roaming the jungle. It is better to be alone than to be with those who will hinder your progress.”
― Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada

“Not merely by rules of conduct and religious observances, nor by much learning either, nor even by attainment of concentration, nor by sleeping alone, do I reach the happiness of freedom, to which no worldlings attain. If you have not put an end to compulsions, nurse your faith”
― Buddha, The Dhammapada

“Though you recite much scripture,
If you are unaware and do not act according
You are like a cowherd counting others' cattle,
Not a sharer in the wanderer's life.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“One who utters speech that isn't rough
But instructive and truthful
So that he offends no one,
Him I call Brahmin.”
― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

“Watchfulness is the path of immortality:
Unwatchfulness is the path of death.
Those who are watchful never die:
Those who do not watch are already as dead.

Those who with a clear mind have seen this truth,
Those who are wise and ever watchful,
They feel the joy of watchfulness,
The joy of the path of the great.

And those who in high thought and in deep contemplation
With ever living power advance on the path,
They in the end reach NIRVANA,
The peace supreme and infinite joy.

~ Buddha”
― Juan Mascaro, The Dhammapada