Great Throughts Treasury

"Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves."

"Wisdom is like a clear cool pool - it can be entered from any side."

"He who would misuse the boon of human life is far more stupid than he who would employ a gold vessel inlaid with precious gems as a receptacle for filth."

"So, to praise others for their virtues - Can but encourage one's own efforts."

"There is pleasure when a sore is scratched, But to be without sores is more pleasurable still. Just so, there are pleasures in worldly desires, But to be without desires is more pleasurable still."

"If you desire ease, forsake learning."

"After happiness comes suffering. After suffering arises happiness. For beings happiness and suffering Revolve like a wheel."

"Neither from itself nor from another, nor from both, nor without a cause, does anything whatever, anywhere arise."

"Method is more important than strength . . . By dropping golden beads near a snake, a crow once managed to have a passerby kill the snake for the beads."

"All philosophies are mental fabrications. There has never been a single doctrine by which one could enter the true essence of things."

"Virtues are acquired through endeavor,which rests wholly upon yourself. So, to praise others for their virtues can but encourage one's own efforts."

"He who pursues people for what they can give, and yet pays no heed to those who have offered much, is like the man who thinks only of the butter to come, and pays no heed to what has already been churned."

"As long as you watch the way, as long as your steps are steady, as long as your wisdom is unimpaired, so long will you reap profit."

"He who knoweth the precepts by heart, but faileth to practice them, is like unto one who lighteth a lamp and then shutteth his eyes."

"He who knows one thing, knows all things and he who knows all things, knows one thing. He who is careless in all respects, is in danger he who is not careless in all respects, is free from danger."

"Any man who strives to do his best whether his work be great or small is considered to be doing the work of a lion."

"An anthill increases by accumulation. Medicine is consumed by distribution. That which is feared lessens by association. This is the thing to understand."

"He who does not attempt to make peace when small discords arise, is like the bee's hive which leaks drops of honey. Soon, the whole hive collapses."

"A highly learned man has two sources of happiness. Either he abandons all earthly interests or else he possesses much which could be abandoned."

"The fire which burned the forest Became the companion of the wind. But just as the wind extinguished the fire, the weak man loses his friends."

"Although you may remain somewhere for a long time, it is certain that you will have to leave. Whatever may be the manner of parting, the actual going cannot be avoided."

"Even if the son of his enemy speaks sweetly, the wise man remains on guard. A poisonous leaf retains its potency, and can cause injury at any time."

"There is no ornament like virtue, there is no misery like worry, there is no protection like patience, there is no friend equal to generosity."

"A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men."

"Although you may spend your life killing, you will not exhaust all your foes. But if you quell your own anger, your real enemy will be slain."

"When your eyes are fixed in the stare of unconsciousness, and your throat coughs the last gasping breath, as one dragged in the dark to a great precipice, what assistance are a wife and child?"

"When young, rejoice in the tranquility of the old. However great your glory, be forbearing in your manner. Boast not of what you know, even when learned. However high you may rise, be not proud."

"When possessed of wealth or learning, low people become proud. But even when doubly honored, the wise become more humble."

"Whoever benefits his enemy with straightforward intention, that man's enemies will soon fold their hands in devotion."

"True knowledge is a virtue of the talented, But harmful to those without discernment. Spring water free of impurity, entering the ocean, becomes undrinkable."

"Property is unstable, and youth perishes in a moment. Life itself is held in the grinning fangs of Death, yet men delay to obtain release from the world. Alas, the conduct of mankind is surprising."

"Those who speak with discretion are respected by mankind, As the sun, emerging from the shadows, by its rays creates great warmth."

"This body, full of faults, has yet one great quality. Whatever it encounters in this temporal life depends upon one's actions."

"The teachings of elegant sayings should be collected when one can. For the supreme gift of words of wisdom, any price will be paid."

"The man against whom you feel anger in your heart is not to be admonished by mere words. First, subdue him by force, and then use your weapon of words."

"The foolish are like ripples on water, for whatsoever they do is quickly effaced. But the righteous are like carvings upon stone, for their smallest act is durable."

"The career of a sage is of two kinds; He is either honored by all in the world, like a flower waving its head, or else he disappears into the silent forest."

"Moral conduct, self-restraint, and control of the mind. What else does one need who perseveres in these?"

"Although a cloth be washed a hundred times, how can it be rendered clean and pure if it be washed in water which is dirty?"

"In peace there is profundity from which the highest respect arises from respect comes power and command therefore observe peace."

"Those who speak ill of the spiritual life, although they come and go by day, are like the smith's bellows. They take breath but are not alive."

"My acts are irrevocable Because they have no essence... Where are the doers of deeds Absent among their conditions? Imagine a magician Who creates a creature Who creates other creatures. Acts I perform are creatures Who create others."

"A person is not earth, not water, not fire, not wind, not space, not consciousness, and not all of them. What person is there other than these?"

"The logs of wood which move down the river together Are driven apart by every wave. Such inevitable parting Should not be the cause of misery."

"Ultimate serenity is the coming to rest of all ways of taking things, the repose of named things; no truth has been taught by a Buddha for anyone, anywhere."

"Just as the grammarian makes one study grammar, A Buddha teaches according to the tolerance of his students; Some he urges to refrain from sins, others to do good, some to rely on dualism, other on non-dualism; and to some he teaches the profound, the terrifying, the practice of enlightenment, whose essence is emptiness that is compassion."

"As long as the aggregates are conceived, There will be a conception of “I”, And when there is a conception of “I”, There’s karma, and from that, rebirth."

"Due to having many parts, there is no unity. There is not anything without parts. Further, without one, there is not many. Also, without existence, there is no non-existence."

"The victorious ones say that emptiness undermines all dogmatic views, those who take a dogmatic view of emptiness are said to be incurable."

"If grasping were bondage, then the one who is grasping would not be bound. But one who is not grasping is not bound. In what circumstances will one be bound? ... "I, without grasping, will pass beyond sorrow, And I will attain nirvana," one says. Whoever grasps like this Has a great grasping."