The development of wisdom requires both study and practice, both learning and direct experience.

The restraint of the senses is not a matter of suppression but of wise attention to our experience.

The practice of mindfulness is simple: whatever you experience, you observe and note it.

Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.

Much of spiritual life is self-acceptance, maybe all of it.

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

Metta is the ability to embrace all parts of ourselves, as well as all parts of the world.

Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking.

Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay.

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

As a flower that is lovely and beautiful, but is scentless, even so fruitless is the well-spoken word of one who does not practice it.

Meditation is not about stopping thoughts, but recognizing that we are not our thoughts.

The role of Zen is neither to stand above life nor to run away from it, but to face it with a spirit of determination.

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

True peace is found not in the absence of experience but in the clear seeing of all experience.

Real happiness lies within. It cannot be found in external objects or achievements.

Try to be mindful and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool.

The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.

When we recognize that our thoughts are just thoughts, we can choose whether or not to follow them.

When you generate negativity, you are the first victim of your negativity.

Mindfulness is the gentle effort to be continuously present with experience.

Anxiety and excitement are the same emotion. The only difference is our attitude toward the experience.

The most important thing in life is to know death is coming and to prepare for it.

Mindfulness is being aware of what's going on, not trying to control what's going on.

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced mind that sees things clearly without reaction.

Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.

Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it.

The development of wisdom does not occur in isolation but requires the cultivation of the entire Noble Eightfold Path.

The true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

Compassion is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.

We need the courage to learn from our experience and the wisdom to be willing to change and grow.

The art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.