Nhat Hanh Quotes

298 Sourced Quotes

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
Our walking is not a means to an end. We walk for the sake of walking.

Nhat Hanh
Meditation is, first of all, a tool for surveying our territory so we can know what is going on. With the energy of mindfulness, we can calm things down, understand them, and bring harmony back to the conflicting elements inside us.

Nhat Hanh
The Buddha also counseled the monks and nuns to avoid wasting any precious time by engaging in idle conversation, oversleeping, pursuing fame and recognition, chasing after desires, spending time with people of poor character, and being satisfied with only a shallow understanding of the teaching.

Nhat Hanh
The Buddha said, 'Nothing can survive without food.' This is a very simple and very deep truth. Love and hate are both living phenomena. If we do not nourish our love, it will die and may turn into hate. If we want love to last, we have to nurture it and give it food every day. Hate is the same; if we don't feed it, it cannot survive.

Nhat Hanh
When we enter the present moment deeply, our regrets and sorrows disappear, and we discover life with all its wonders.

Nhat Hanh
Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves—slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life.

Nhat Hanh
Anxiety is the illness of our age. We worry about ourselves, our family, our friends, our work, and our state of the world. If we allow worry to fill our hearts, sooner or later we will get sick.

Nhat Hanh
With mindfulness - the practice of peace - we can begin by working to transform the wars in ourselves. Conscious breathing helps us do this.

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

Nhat Hanh
The organic gardener does not think of throwing away the garbage. She knows that she needs the garbage. She is capable of transforming the garbage into compost, so that the compost can turn into lettuce, cucumber, radishes, and flowers again...With the energy of mindfulness, you can look into the garbage and say: I am not afraid. I am capable of transforming the garbage back into love.

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

Nhat Hanh
There is no birth, there is no death; there is no coming, there is no going; there is no same, there is no different; there is no permanent self, there is no annihilation. We only think there is.

Nhat Hanh
Every day we touch what is wrong, and, as a result, we are becoming less and less healthy. That is why we have to learn to practice touching what is not wrong—inside us and around us. When we get in touch with our eyes, our heart, our liver, our breathing, and our non-toothache and really enjoy them, we see that the conditions for peace and happiness are already present.

Nhat Hanh
The roots of war are in the way we live our daily lives — the way we develop our industries, build up our society, and consume goods.

Nhat Hanh
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
If we know how to create the energy of love, understanding, compassion, and beauty, then we can contribute a lot to the world.

Nhat Hanh
When we are angry, our anger is our very self. To suppress or chase away our anger is to suppress or chase away ourselves. When anger is born, we can be aware that anger is an energy in us, and we can change that energy into another kind of energy. If we want to transform it, first we have to know how to accept it.

Nhat Hanh
If we take something to be the truth, we may cling to it so much that when the truth comes and knocks on our door, we won't want to let it in.

Nhat Hanh
I am determined to practice deep listening. I am determined to practice loving speech.

Nhat Hanh
Preventing war is much better than protesting against the war. Protesting the war is too late.

Nhat Hanh
I do many kinds of work, and if you forbid me from binding books, from gardening, from writing poetry, from practicing walking meditation, from teaching children, I will be very unhappy. To me, work is pleasant. Pleasant or unpleaseant depends on our way of looking.

Nhat Hanh
Nonviolent action, born of the awareness of suffering and nurtured by love, is the most effective way to confront adversity.

Nhat Hanh
We try many ways to be awake, but our society still keeps us forgetful. Meditation is to help us remember.

Nhat Hanh
Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to live. Select a vocation that helps realise your ideal of compassion.

Nhat Hanh