Quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh

Keep looking into the truth in order to have the understanding that nirv??a is the greatest happiness.

Hold onto your anger and use it as compost for your garden.

When people in intimate relationships have mindfulness, concentration, and insight, their relationships have an element of holiness. Sexual intimacy shouldn't occur before there is communion, understanding, and sharing on the emotional and spiritual level.

You can take one step with each in-breath and one step with each out-breath.

If you know your true nature of no coming, no going; no being, no nonbeing; no birth, no death, then you will have no fear and can dwell in the ultimate dimension, nirvana, right here and now. You don't have to die in order to reach nirvana. When you dwell in your true nature, you are already dwelling in nirvana. We have our historical dimension but we also have our ultimate dimension, just as the Buddha does.

Darling, I know you are there. Your presence is precious to me." If you do not express this while you are together, when she passes away or has an accident, you will only cry, because before the accident happened, you did not know how to be truly happy together.

Right Livelihood (samyag ajiva), you have to find a way to earn your living without transgressing your ideals of love and compassion.

The raft is used to cross the river. It isn't to be carried around on your shoulders. The finger which points at the moon isn't the moon itself.

The five remembrances are: 1.  I am of the nature to grow old. I cannot escape growing old. 2.  I am of the nature to have ill health. I cannot escape having ill health. 3.  I am of the nature to die. I cannot escape death. 4.  All that is dear to me, and everyone I love, are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them. 5.  I inherit the results of my acts of body, speech, and mind. My actions are my continuation

When we walk, we can walk for our ancestors and future generations. Maybe they had to walk with sorrow; perhaps they were forced to march or migrate. When we walk freely, we are walking for them.

We drink and eat all the time, but we usually ingest only our ideas, projects, worries, and anxiety. We do not really eat our bread or drink our beverage. If we allow ourselves to touch our bread deeply, we become reborn, because our bread is life itself. Eating it deeply, we touch the sun, the clouds, the earth, and everything in the cosmos. We touch life, and we touch the Kingdom of God.

None of us needs to embrace pain and sorrow alone. When you throw a rock into a river, no matter how small the rock is, it will sink to the bottom of the river. But if you have a boat, you can carry many tons of rocks, and they won't sink.

Let us instead really live these moments that are given to us.

Open all the doors. Don't commit yourself to just one idea of happiness. Remove the idea of happiness that you have, and then happiness can come, this afternoon.

Sometimes we act without intention, but that is also action. "Habit energy" is pushing us; it pushes us to do things without our being aware. Sometimes we do something without knowing we're doing it. Even when we don't want to do something, we still do it. Sometimes we say, "I didn't want to do it, but it's stronger than me, it pushed me." So that is a seed, a habit energy, that may have come from many generations in the past.

In the world, few people are on the wholesome path. Those on the unwholesome path are many. Look into the truth in order to understand how nirv??a is the most secure abode.

You can transform your nation into a prison because you are committed to an ideology.

No podrás ayudarla, ni amarla. Tu capacidad de amar a otra persona depende por completo de tu capacidad de amarte a ti mismo, de cuidar de ti.

Happiness depends first of all on having the deep desire for happiness, and then on having a spiritual path to follow.

When you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.

Therefore, in order to take care of you, I have to take care of myself.

When I go to parties, people seem to be enjoying themselves. But when I look beneath the surface, I see so much anxiety and suffering there.

True love is made of loving kindness (maitri), compassion (karuna), joy (mudita), and equanimity (upeksha). True love brings joy and peace, and relieves suffering.

We breathe all the time, but we rarely pay attention to our breathing. We rarely enjoy our breathing.