Dalai Lama Quotes

The greatest antidote to insecurity & sense of fear is compassion. It brings one back to the basis of one's inner strength.

Giving material goods is one form of generosity, but one can extend an attitude of generosity into all one's behavior. Being kind, attentive, and honest in dealing with others, offering praise where it is due, giving comfort and advice where they are needed, and simply sharing one's time with someone - all these are forms of generosity, and they do not require any particular level of material wealth.

Anger and hatred lead to fear; compassion and concern for others allow us to develop self-confidence, which breeds trust and friendship.

A great rock is not disturbed by the wind; the mind of a wise man is not disturbed by either honor or abuse.

How can we eliminate the deepest source of all unsatisfactory experience? Only by cultivating certain qualities within our mindstream.

As human beings, we are only able to survive in dependence upon the co-operation, help and kindness of other fellow humans.

From that viewpoint, America, free country, democratic country, so more opportunity. Still is more sort of Alive. This is my feeling.

When we are caught up in a destructive emotion, we lose one of our greatest assets: our independence.

Education is the best way to train ourselves that we will secure our own well-being by concerning ourselves with others. It is possible to create a better world, a more compassionate, more peaceful world, which is not only in everyone’s interest, but is everyone’s responsibility to achieve.

The most important benefit of patience consists in the way it acts as a powerful antidote to the affliction of anger.

If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.

The ultimate way to solve human problems is with nonviolence.

My message is the practice of compassion, love and kindness.

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.

Be gentle with the earth.

The jealousy that arises from another's achievement is overcome by developing an awareness of and admiration for one's own and other's achievement.

While it is all very well to distinguish happiness that is transient from that which is lasting, between ephemeral and genuine happiness, the only happiness it is meaningful to speak of when a person is dying from thirst is access to water.

If you help and serve others, you will ultimately gain.

If you have a great deal of knowledge, but you're governed by negative emotions, then you tend to use your knowledge in negative ways. Therefore, while you are learning, don't forget the importance of warmheartedness.

The most important thing in life is human affection.Without it one cannot achieve genuine happiness.And if we want a happier life, a happier family, happier neighboursor a happier nation, the key is inner quality.Even if the five billion human beings that inhabit the earth becomemillionaires, without inner development there cannot be peaceor any lasting happiness.

Life does not wait: Whether we spend our lives meaningfully or not, the time will be used up moment by moment.

I do not see any reason why animals should be slaughtered to serve as human diet when there are so many substitutes. After all, man can live without meat.

Passion is what gives sense to our life.

Even when a person has all of life's comforts - good food, good shelter, a companion - he or she can still become unhappy when encountering a tragic situation.

To remain indifferent to the challenges we face is indefensible. If the goal is noble, whether or not it is realized within our lifetime is largely irrelevant. What we must do therefore is to strive and persevere and never give up.

Compassion is the wish for another being to be free from suffering; love is wanting them to have happiness.

The mind is key. If anything should be considered a god, so to speak, it is the mind, not money. A healthy positive mind is the utmost priority. But if we were to reverse the order of these priorities, what would happen? I find it hard to imagine how a person with great wealth, bad health, no friends, and no peace of mind could feel even slightly happy.

We must realize that it is best to focus on our oneness, to re emphasize what is the same about each of us rather than dwell on what is different.

When you think everything is someone else's fault, you will suffer a lot. When you realize that everything springs only from yourself, you will learn both peace and joy.

When something needs to be done in the world to rectify the wrongs, if one is really concerned with benefiting others, one needs to be engaged, involved. This is action out of compassion.

"The true essence of humankind is kindness. There are other qualities which come from education or knowledge, but it is essential, if one wishes to be a genuine human being and impart satisfying meaning to one's existence, to have a good heart."

When we are motivated by compassion and wisdom, the results of our actions benefit everyone, not just our individual selves or some immediate convenience. When we are able to recognize and forgive ignorant actions of the past, we gain strength to constructively solve the problems of the present.

I would like to explain the meaning of compassion, which is often misunderstood. Genuine compassion is based not on our own projections and expectations, but rather on the rights of the other: irrespective of whether another person is a close friend

Through violence, you may 'solve' one problem, but you sow the seeds for another.

We must work to resolve conflicts in a spirit of reconciliation and always keep in mind the interests of others. We cannot destroy our neighours! We cannot ignore their interests!

Whether we like it or not, we have all been born into this world as part of one great human family. Rich or poor, educated or uneducated, belonging to one nation or another, to one religion or another, adhering to this ideology or that, ultimately each of is just a human being like everyone else. We all desire happiness and do not want suffering.

By being inattentive to the needs of others, inevitably we end up harming them.

At the beginning when the child is coming, people worry the child may be deformed. When a healthy boy or child comes, people are very happy for a short moment.

An affectionate disposition not only makes the mind more peacefuland calm, but it affects our body in a positive way too. On theother hand, hatred, jealousy and fear upset our peace of mind, makeus agitated and affect our body adversely. Even our body needs peaceof mind and is not suited to agitation. This shows that anappreciation for peace of mind is in our blood.

I believe the ultimate aim of all human beings is to obtain happiness and a sense of fulfillment... I have always stressed the importance of combining both the mental and material approach to achieving happiness for humankind.

Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back and reasons to stay.

I feel many problems that we are facing, are man-made problems, we have too much emphasis on this secondary thing, forgetting our foundation. At foundation, we are the same human being and we are sharing the same planet. Six billion human beings' future is my future and my future is never separate from the future of six billion human beings.

Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.

Basically, therefore, we should approach others openly, recognizing each person as another human being just like ourselves. There is not much difference between us all.

It’s in our interest to take care of others. Self-centrednes s is opposed to basic human nature. In our own interest as human beings we need to pay attention to our inner values. Sometimes people think compassion is only of help to others, while we get no benefit. This is a mistake. When you concern yourself with others, you naturally develop a sense of self-confidence . To help others takes courage and inner strength.

Just give food without showing affection, [animals] might not get sort of 100% satisfaction. So they also, you see, when we human beings, we show affection, the poor animal also respond to us.

You are the people who are shaping a better world. One of the secrets of inner peace is the practice of compassion.

We have a natural creative ability and it is very important to realize this.

Do something that scares you every day. You have nothing to lose but fear itself.

Even more important than the warmth and affection we receive, is the warmth and affection we give. It is by giving warmth and affection, by having a genuine sense of concern for others, in other words through compassion, that we gain the conditions for genuine happiness. More important than being loved, therefore, is to love.

I love smiles. That is a fact. How to develop smiles? There are a variety of smiles. Some smiles are sarcastic. Some smiles are artificial-diplomatic smiles. These smiles do not produce satisfaction, but rather fear or suspicion. But a genuine smile gives us hope, freshness. If we want a genuine smile, then first we must produce the basis for a smile to come.

Appreciate how rare and full of potential your situation is in this world, then take joy in it, and use it to your best advantage.

We are social animals. Others' suffering is ultimately your suffering; their happiness is ultimately your happiness.

All I can do is engage with complete sincerity. Then whatever happens, there is no regret.

I have three commitments. Number one commitment is promotion of human value. Number two commitment is promotion of race harmony. Number three commitment is about Tibet. My retirement is the third commitment. The previous two commitments, to my death, I have committed.

A tree with strong roots can withstand the most violent storm, but the tree can't grow roots just as the storm appears on the horizon.

We must generate courage equal to the size of the difficulties we face.

As human beings we each have a responsibility to care for humanity. Expressing concern for others brings inner strength and deep satisfaction. As social animals, human beings need friendship, but friendship doesn't come from wealth and power, but from showing compassion and concern for others.

So long as space remains, So long sentient beings' suffering remain, I will remain, In order to help, in order to serve... I am nothing but a servant to provide to others. So if you provide some happiness, some comfort to others, then your life becomes meaningful. If your life creates problems or suffering to others, then there's no meaning to your existence.

I believe that the destructive nature of society that now threatens the existence of the entire human world has much to do with human intelligence. The way to overcome all human suffering-that also is through human intelligence.