Nhat Hanh Quotes

298 Sourced Quotes

Loneliness cannot be alleviated just by the coming together of two bodies, unless there is also good communication, understanding, and loving kindness.

Nhat Hanh
Meditation is not meant to help us avoid problems or run away from difficulties. It is meant to allow positive healing to take place. To meditate is to learn how to stop—to stop being carried away by our regrets about the past, our anger or despair in the present, or our worries about the future.

Nhat Hanh
Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.

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

Nhat Hanh
We fear that this moment will end, that we won't get what we need, that we will lose what we love, or that we will not be safe. Often, our biggest fear is the knowledge that one day our bodies will cease functioning. So even when we are surrounded by all the conditions for happiness, our joy is not complete.

Nhat Hanh
At first glance, that might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing? But that's precisely the point.

Nhat Hanh
Our notions about happiness entrap us. We forget that they are just ideas. Our idea of happiness can prevent us from actually being happy. We fail to see the opportunity for joy that is right in front of us when we are caught in a belief that happiness should take a particular form.

Nhat Hanh
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
There are some people who eat an orange but don't really eat it. They eat their sorrow, fear, anger, past, and future.

Nhat Hanh
Hatred and fear blind us. We no longer see each other. We see only the faces of monsters, and that gives us the courage to destroy each other.

Nhat Hanh
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
Our appointment with life is in the present moment. If we do not have peace and joy right now, when will we have peace and joy?

Nhat Hanh
The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don't wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.

Nhat Hanh
The quality of our life
depends on the quality
of the seeds
that lie deep in our consciousness.

Nhat Hanh
As children, Siddhartha and Jesus both realized that life is filled with suffering. The Buddha became aware at an early age that suffering is pervasive. Jesus must have had the same kind of insight, because they both made every effort to offer a way out. We, too, must learn to live in ways that reduce the world's suffering.

Nhat Hanh
Machine thinking is the opposite of mindfulness. If we're really engaged in mindfulness when walking along the path to the village, then we will consider the act of each step we take as an infinite wonder, and a joy will open our hearts like a flower, enabling us to enter the world of reality.

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

Nhat Hanh
As long as we think our lives are not good enough (materially), we will not have happiness. As soon as we realize our lives are good enough, happiness immediately appears. That is the practice of contentment.

Nhat Hanh
If in our daily life 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
When you say something really unkind, when you do something in retaliation your anger increases. You make the other person suffer, and he will try hard to say or to do something back to get relief from his suffering. That is how conflict escalates.

Nhat Hanh
The more we see, the more we understand. The more we understand, the easier it is for us to have compassion and love. Understanding is the source of love. Understanding is love itself. Understanding is another name for love; love is another name for understanding.

Nhat Hanh
Reconciliation is to understand both sides; to go to one side and describe the suffering being endured by the other side, and then go to the other side and describe the suffering being endured by the first side.

Nhat Hanh
When we respect our blood ancestors and our spiritual ancestors, we feel rooted. If we find ways to cherish and develop our spiritual heritage, we will avoid the kind of alienation that is destroying society, and we will become whole again.... Learning to touch deeply the jewels of our own tradition will allow us to understand and appreciate the values of other traditions, and this will benefit everyone.

Nhat Hanh
Each moment is a chance for us to make peace with the world, to make peace possible for the world, to make happiness possible for the world.

Nhat Hanh
When we change our daily lives - the way we think, speak and act - we change the world.

Nhat Hanh