Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) – “The Founder of Buddhism”

The following are recorded words of wisdom and quotations that have been attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, Buddha (“The Awakened One”). These great Buddha quotes can provide inspiration for online forum and email signatures.

Buddha’s Words of Wisdom

Believe nothing, O monks, merely because you have been told it or because it is traditional, or because you yourselves have imagined it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings, that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.

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The point of the teachings is to control your own mind. Restrain your mind from greed, and you will keep your body right, your mind pure and your words faithful. Always thinking of the transiency of your life, you will be able to desist from greed and anger and will be able to avoid all evils.

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This existence of ours is as transient as Autumn clouds. To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance. A lifetime is a flash of lightning in the sky. Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain.

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Everything changes, nothing remains without change.

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All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.

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The world, indeed, is like a dream and the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage! Like the apparent distances in a picture, things have no reality in themselves, but they are like heat haze.

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There are five things which no one is able to accomplish in this world: first, to cease growing old when he is growing old; second, to cease being sick; third, to cease dying; fourth, to deny dissolution when there is dissolution; fifth, to deny non-being.

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When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.

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The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

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You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

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Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.

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There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.

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He who never thinks of anything as “mine” does not feel the lack of anything — he is never worried by a sense of loss.

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I gained nothing at all from Supreme Enlightenment, and for that very reason it is called Supreme Enlightenment.

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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.

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Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

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Fashion your life as a garland of beautiful deeds.

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Good men and bad men differ radically. Bad men never appreciate kindness shown them, but wise men appreciate and are grateful. Wise men try to express their appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to their benefactor, but to everyone else.

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Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.

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Look within, you are the Buddha.

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Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine.

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On a long journey of human life, faith is the best of companions; it is the best refreshment on the journey; and it is the greatest property.

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Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

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‘He insulted me, he cheated me, he beat me, he robbed me.’ Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.

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The man who foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the protection of my most ungrudging love; and the more evil comes from him, the more good shall go from me.

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An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.

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The mind is the source of happiness and unhappiness.

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The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.

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There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed.

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The tongue, like a sharp knife, kills without drawing blood.

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Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

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You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.

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Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.

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How ever many holy words you read, how ever many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?

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Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.

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Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.

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All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

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Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

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Think not lightly of evil, saying, ‘It will not come to me.’ Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the fool, gathering it little by little, fills himself with evil.

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Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.

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Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

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Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.

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What we think, we become.

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Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.

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He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.

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He who experiences the unity of life sees his own self in all beings, and all beings in his own self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.

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There is only one time when it is essential to awaken. That time is now.

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Thou one man conquers a thousand men, a thousand times in battle, he who conquers himself is the greatest warrior.

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To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.

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It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.

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Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.

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To live a single day and hear a good teaching is better than to live a hundred years without knowing such teaching.

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Attachment is the source of all suffering.

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Your work is to discover your world and then, with all your heart, give yourself to it.

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Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back.

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Depending on the source, Buddha’s last words were something like…

Decay is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.
or
Impermanent are all created things. Strive on with awareness.
or
All compound things are subject to breaking up. Strive on with mindfulness.

(Buddha’s teachings and words weren’t written down until several hundred years after his death and they were written in Pali, a language derived from Sanskrit, so there are very likely some “translation” issues.)

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And finally…one of my personal favorite quotes…

It is better to travel well than to arrive.

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